


To Die So Others Can Live (Oliver and Felicity POV)

by rangersandlegends



Series: Borrowing Problems from the Past [4]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Season 5 AU, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-07-03 03:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 27,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15809967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangersandlegends/pseuds/rangersandlegends
Summary: Oliver and Felicity are so close to having everything: their team united, their city safe, and finally their relationship on track. However, when Ryder comes crashing back into their lives with more secrets and lies, will it be what brings them together, or tears them apart?





	1. Chapter 1 (Oliver)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry it's taken so long to post this, but here it is! The other POV fic for To Die So Others Can Live. Two things of note: I am actively working on the sequel to To Die So Others Can Live, so there will be a conclusion to Ryder's story! Second, I live for comments, so please feel free!

Oliver had better things to do. He could be enjoying a nice lunch with Felicity (and they could finally discuss everything that had been between them lately), but he had to cancel so he could micro-manage the city’s budget. Wasn’t he supposed to have staff to take care of details like this? Instead he was stuck in his office, eating a sandwich, and exploring the costs of tree maintenance.

 

Suddenly, there was a whoosh of air.  _  Barry? _ He looked up. And dropped his sandwich. 

 

“Hi, Dad.” It was Ryder. Ryder was here.  _ His daughter _ . He blinked his eyes a few times to make sure his recent span of all-nighters wasn’t making him see things, and he resisted the urge to pinch himself. No, she was here. A bit older, but still her. He had to make sure no one else saw her. He quickly dialed his assistant and told her to give him some privacy. “It’s really me, Dad.” 

 

Yes, it was. By some miracle, she was here. He came around to the other side of his desk so he could hug her. He didn’t want to let go. He would have never guessed he got to see her again before she was born. 

 

“Ryder.” She let go of him, and for the first time he noticed that she had someone with her. A young man, probably about her age. “And who’s this?”

 

“Oh, this is...one of my best friends from my time, Don.” She hesitated on identifying who he was, which Oliver filed away to ask about later. 

 

Don stuck out his hand for Oliver to shake. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Queen.”

 

“Oliver is fine.”

 

The boy mumbled something under his breath, and Ryder nudged him in retaliation.  _ These two are clearly quite close.  _ No one was saying anything, and Oliver didn’t want this joyful reunion getting awkward so quickly. 

 

Oliver turned to Ryder.  _ Say something, anything _ . “You cut your hair.” 

 

“Yeah. Several times since we last saw each other.” Right. That would make sense. She did look older after all. But how much older?

 

“How long has it been for you?”

 

“About the same amount of time it’s been for you. 2 years, give or take.”

 

He really wanted to talk to her. Just her, no Don serving as a third wheel. He felt like they had so much to catch up on, and, more importantly, he needed to ascertain why she was here. Elated to see her as he was, he doubted she was there for a good reason. 

 

Ryder turned to Don. “Hey, Don, are you hungry from Traveling?” 

 

“Starved.”

 

“That Big Belly Burger on 5th and Main is around in this time period.”

 

“Great. I’ll go check it out.” He whooshed out of the room. So he, and not Ryder, was the speedster that brought them here.  _ Good _ . He didn’t want Ryder on that dangerous speed drug. Finally, they could talk. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. 

 

“Is everything okay? Is Tommy okay? And William and your mother?”

 

“The family’s okay.” Another sigh of relief.

 

“And your friend, Don, he’s a speedster?”

 

“Yeah, he’s from Team Flash in my future.”

 

“That’s good. For a second, I thought it was you that sped him into my office instead of the other way around.” That would be a lot for Oliver to get used to. A speedster daughter.

 

“Nope, I’m still fully human.” 

 

“So what brings you to 2017? Another evil speedster? Do I screw something up as Mayor?” Why could she possibly be here?

 

“No. Nothing like that. I’m here to prevent something terrible from happening.”

 

“What happens?”

 

“It’s...just know that it’s really bad. We tried everything we could to fix it in the future, but it isn’t possible. Only fixing it in this time period is.” 

 

“And you can’t tell me anything more about it?” He knew she had to be vague in order to protect the timeline, but he couldn’t help her just based on that.

 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t risk any more damage to the timeline than I’m sustaining already by coming here and preventing the Event.”

 

“The Event? That’s what you call it?” She nodded. “Tell me everything you can tell me, then.” 

 

“Around this time period, someone or something starts poisoning the water supply. It’s imperceptible, but it can survive in the human system for...some time. It’s a ticking time bomb. And when it goes off…tick, tick, boom.” That sounded dangerous.

 

“And in the time you’re from?”

 

“It’s already too late to undo the damage. Only coming back here can fix it.” He couldn’t imagine that it was a problem that the future couldn’t fix. He knew some of the smartest people alive, and if they couldn’t fix it, why would she come to him? Unless...some of those smart people weren’t around anymore.

 

“How many people does it kill?” He hoped she would hear the real question in his voice:  _ who _ does it kill?

 

“Enough.” It was a vague answer, but he heard the underlying message: it killed the people who could’ve fixed it. He dropped down to perch on his desk, and ran his hands over his face. Did it kill him? Felicity? His kids? Ryder had said the whole family was alright, but he wouldn’t put it past her to lie. Ryder sat down across from him, and he finally wracked up the courage to ask her the next question.

 

“So you’re saying that it originates somewhere around here and now?”

 

“That’s our best guess. As Mayor, you can give me access to a lot of what I need, but I’m going to need the whole team on this, especially Curtis and Felicity.” Well, at least they weren’t busy now. Prometheus was no longer a threat. 

 

“You came at a good time. We just put away Adrian Chase.”

 

“Prometheus, I know.” How did she...of course she knew who he was.  _ That would’ve been helpful a few months ago _ . “There’s also another thing.”

 

“What is that?”

 

“We only have four days to fix this.” What? That didn’t sound like near enough time.

 

“Four days? Why?”

 

“Because in four days’ time, your attention will be occupied by something else.” Now she was really getting his curiosity fired up.  “You know I can’t tell you what it is. Just trust me.”

 

“I wish I could get Barry’s help as well. I’m sure as a CSI he’d have a lot of information we’ll need. But he’s currently wrapped up with an evil speedster of his own.”

 

“I know. But in a few hours’ time, his whole team will be ready to help us.” So they took down Savitar soon. Good to know. It’d be nice to have his friends around again. Before he could ask another question, there was a knock on the door.  _ Tracey! He had told her to keep everyone away! _ Before he could tell the person to enter, the door opened. It was just Thea.

 

“Thea, I told Tracey I needed some time alone.”

 

“Yeah, and I told her that didn’t include your sister.” She finally saw Ryder. “And who’s this?”

 

“This is...Anna. She’s…” Oliver had no idea how to introduce her. His daughter? Nope, too many implications for the timeline. His friend? No, grown men didn’t hang out with teenage girls. An associate? No, she was too young for-

 

“I’m a time traveller from the future Team Arrow here to prevent a catastrophe from happening.” Ryder stuck out her hand and Thea shook it. 

 

“I guess this is our lives now.” She was right about that.

 

“I know you’re technically retired at the moment, but I would love for you to join the team I’m putting together.” 

 

“Wait, I recognize you. Weren’t you one of Roy’s friends?”

 

_ Roy’s friend? When did that become a thing? _ “That was what I said last time I was here, before you knew his secret. But there’s no time for secrecy now. Will you join us?”

 

“I don’t know…”

 

Oliver pleaded with his sister. “Come on, Thea, you joined us for the aliens. This is just as exciting as all that.”

 

She sighed. “Fine. Yeah, I guess I’ll come too.”

 

“Great.” Ryder turned to Oliver. “What are the chances you can cancel the rest of your day?” 

 

Oliver in turn turned to Thea, who rolled her eyes at him. “Fine. Everyone still loves me around here, so I’ll start doing your cancellations and meet you at the Bunker.”

 

Ryder pulled out her tablet and started typing, before looking up at him.  “Great. Then let’s get started.”


	2. Chapter 2 (Felicity)

Felicity wasn’t sure what the “all hands on deck” alert was for. Things had been relatively calm since they had locked up Prometheus last night. She had even hoped that things would still be quiet in time for Oliver’s surprise birthday party in four days. And then, maybe, just maybe, after that, they’d be able to talk. About everything. 

 

She walked into the Bunker, to see that none of the team was there yet. As she was walking toward her computers, she tripped over something and almost landed on her hands and knees before catching herself. She looked down and saw two large backpacks laying on the floor.  _ Odd _ . 

 

When she got to her computers, she saw that not only were they not dormant, but they were running a trace on something. It was a search algorithm for a GPS, but it was running a code that she had never seen before. She started picking it apart and finally noticed: it was running the scan fourth dimensionally. She had only ever seen something like this one time, and that was on the Waverider. Someone was here, a time traveller by the looks of it. The only time traveller she knew that would be messing around with her stuff was Anna. 

 

“Hey, Blondie, what did Hoss call us in for?” Felicity broke her concentration and turned to face Rene. 

 

“I have no idea. Although, I do have a guess-”

 

“Felicity, what are we looking at?” This from Dig.

 

“I’m just as much in the dark as you are. This was all Oliver.”

 

“He didn’t tell me anything, either.”

 

She heard feet clomping down the stairs. “I thought we had beat Chase. Now we’re getting an alert that we all have to come back? What happened to our break?” That was Curtis’ voice, and Dinah and Quentin came into sight behind him. 

 

“I don’t know what’s going on, although I do have my suspicions. Let’s wait for Oliver to get here.” The team started milling around and having some side conversations, while Felicity took a closer look at the search algorithm. 

 

Oliver spoke up, breaking her from her thoughts. “Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to someone. This is Anna. She’s on our team in the future, and she’s here now with a new mission for us.” Felicity was right.

 

“Anna, I knew it was you. I mean, between the bags with your gear in it and the temporal tracing program you were running on my computers, I figured you had to be back.” She gave Anna a hug, but Anna just stood there awkwardly.  _ So much for being friendly _ .

 

“Wait, I know you.” Curtis interrupted their awkward reunion. “You’re the thief that stole my battery!” 

 

Felicity had no idea what Curtis was talking about. Anna wasn’t a thief. “It took me weeks to remake that prototype.”

 

“Sorry. I needed it for reasons you couldn’t understand. And it didn’t seem to slow you down too much. You still made the implantable biostimulant.” 

 

Curtis crossed his arms. “Still, it caused me a lot of extra work,” he murmured. 

 

Felicity put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “And it all worked out. Now, we need to figure out why Anna is here now?” She glanced at Anna, hoping she would be able to fill them in.

 

Now it was Rene who interrupted. “So we’re expected to believe Little Blondie that she’s one of us in the future? And we just believe her?”

 

Oliver gave Rene a fierce look. “You’re expected to believe me, yes. We went on missions with her before and she’s trustworthy.” 

 

“Yeah, and my name’s not Little Blondie, either.” Yeah, Felicity didn’t like her “Blondie” nickname anymore than Anna apparently liked hers. What did Rene have against blondes anyway?

 

Felicity turned to Anna. “I see you brought two bags. So I’m guessing you brought a friend as well?”

 

“Yeah, and he should be here any-”  _ Whoosh _ . “And here he is now. This is my friend Don. He’s a member of future Team Flash.” The boy waved to the team.  _ A speedster then _ .

 

“I’ll introduce you two to everyone, and then you can fill us in,” Oliver said.

 

“Actually, we already know everyone. We came into this fully prepared.” Anna walked to the central console, and plugged in her tablet again, pulling up some info. “Here’s what you need to know. In the next several days, the water supply is going to be contaminated by an unknown agent. This agent is imperceptible to modern infrastructure, both in the water and in the human body. However, the agent stays within the human body and multiplies until it reaches lethal levels. It’s called the Lethality Point, or LP. It seems to originate in Central and Star City, which share a water supply. Our task is to determine when and where the LP is going to be introduced into the water supply, stop it, and destroy the chemical. Got it?”

 

_ Whoa.  _ That was a lot to wrap one’s head around. Felicity didn’t even know what to say. Quentin was the first to speak. “So you’re saying there’s going to be some kind of mass extinction event in the next couple decades? And we have to stop it?”

 

“Preferably...yeah,” Don said, unconvincingly.  _ Okay, Felicity, you figured out how to hack a nuke, you can figure this out, too. _

 

Felicity sat in the other chair and pulled up what looked like a chemical structure. “Okay, so this is the chemical structure of LP?” 

 

Anna scooched further away from her.  _ Man, she really didn’t like her _ . “Yeah. This is what it looks like in the human body. But we need to reverse engineer what the structure would be before it hit the water stream.”

 

“Whoa.” Curtis was apparently freaking out. “We’re computer scientists. We can do a little forensics, but nothing at this level. You’d need a chemist.” 

 

“Exactly. And we’re going to get one, tonight. But, in the meantime we need to hit all five water treatment plants in Star City and the five in Central to make sure they’re running properly and aren’t at risk for accidental contamination.”

 

Dinah finally piped in. “So you don’t know if this was accidental or purposeful?”

 

“No. Until I reverse engineer the chemical, I can’t even tell you if the LP is naturally occurring.”

 

“But you’re from the future, right?” Thea asked.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Then why didn’t you do this work in the future and bring back the assessment? This seems like a waste of time.” Thea made a good point.

 

Don responded instead. “Because we lacked the resources in the future to do it.” That would make sense, if a bunch of people died in this Event.

 

“I thought you said the future tech was better at detecting LP?” Oliver asked.

 

“It is. But we couldn’t do the backtrace, because...just trust me. The plan for right now is to check the water treatment plants. I have devices to test the water, we just need someone to attach them.”

 

“And how are we supposed to get in?” Dig asked.

 

“I can do that.” Don answered. “I’ll speed you in, you guys can attach the devices, and wait for the results to come back.”

 

“Because you’re fast, like the Flash.” Dig had apparently missed that fact before.

 

“You got it. Team Flash for the win.” Anna laughed at Don’s expression, but Felicity didn’t see anything funny about this situation at all.

 

“Well, it sounds like you have a well thought-out plan. Everyone suit up.” Oliver commanded.

 

The computer dinged, indicating that Anna’s trace had been completed. Felicity grabbed Anna, who startled at the touch.  _ What was up with her? _

 

“Hey, Anna, the computer just finished that temporal trace.” 

 

Don came over as well, more than comfortable getting close to Felicity. “Did you find her?”  _ Her? _

 

“If by her, you mean the beacon you were looking for, then no. Of course, these computers aren’t really meant to scan fourth dimensionally. If you have other tech you could use, then that would be better.”

 

Anna shook her head. “At this point, let’s assume that she either turned her tracer off or it got broken. In the meantime, we need to focus on finding these water treatment plants and running the results through future tech.”

 

Don and Anna had a silent conversation, but apparently decided to let it go. Felicity was really curious what was up with those two, especially Anna. It’s not like she knew Anna that well, but she was definitely acting odd, both around Don and around Felicity. Felicity decided right then and there it was her mission to figure out why.


	3. Chapter 3 (Oliver)

Once Oliver had suited up, he joined the rest of the team with Ryder. She explained how she had brought water sensors from the future that could detect water purity levels, to see if anything was off. They just couldn’t detect LP directly. Oliver didn’t understand a lot of it, but he got the basics of where he needed to attach the sensor and how to get it to turn on. Ryder also told them Don would be distributing them at their locations, which Oliver wasn’t too happy with. There were much easier ways to travel, but he supposed there were none faster. 

 

Don dropped him off at a facility in Star City, where he was able to attach his sensor without any problem. As he began his fifteen minute waiting period, he thought about his interactions with Ryder so far. Of course, he was more than thrilled to see her again before she was born, and knowing she was still okay was a relief. She was acting strange, but he chalked that up to having future knowledge she couldn’t share with anyone; it had been that way back in 2015 as well. At least she had Don this time, a friend who she could talk to about future events. The two of them seemed like good friends, and Oliver knew how important it was to have people you trusted when you were in the trenches.

 

Suddenly, he heard Felicity’s voice over the comms. “Uhh, guys, there are some not-so-nice looking guys coming at me.”  _ Who was going after Felicity?  _ He started striding out of the facility to go get to her, before he realized he had no way to do so. 

 

“Felicity, stay calm,” he instructed. He certainly wasn’t. 

 

“Don, go get Felicity from her location, immediately!” Ryder’s voice came through.

 

“Copy!”

 

There was silence over the comms as Oliver’s heart beat faster and faster. The longer he didn’t hear anything, the more he feared the worst. If anyone laid a hand on her, he would...

 

“Guys, I’m fine. Don took me back to the Bunker.” Relief spread through Oliver’s veins. Ryder’s voice came through the comms again, but he couldn’t hear what she was saying over the sound of his heartbeat slowing. He took some deep, calming breaths.  _ She’s okay, she’s okay, she’s okay _ , he repeated to himself, until he finally believed it.

 

A few minutes later, Don whooshed him back to the Bunker. Two speedster travels in one day was enough for Oliver. He hoped he wouldn’t have to endure anymore as long as Ryder was here. He watched as his teammates were sped in one by one. He took the opportunity to talk to Felicity.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

“I said I was fine, Oliver.”

 

“I shouldn’t have let you go out in the field.”

 

“We couldn’t have known there would be anyone after me.”

 

“But still-”

 

“What I want to know is who those guys were.”

 

“Did they say anything?” 

 

“Yeah. They asked me what I was doing down there, and when I said I was with the city inspection team, they said they weren’t scheduled for an inspection and started stalking up to me.”

 

“Were they wearing uniforms?” Ryder jumped in. He hadn’t seen her come back, but it looked like she and the rest of the team was here.

 

“No. Just t-shirts and jeans. They didn’t match or anything.”

 

“Sounds like something we’ll want to investigate further.” Ryder was right. This was their first lead. It couldn’t be a coincidence that someone was at the water plant at the same time they were. She turned to Don. “Gideon?”  _ Huh? He thought his name was Don _ .

 

A weird-looking digital blue head popped out of Don’s wrist. Oliver had seen some pretty strange things, but this could top the list.

 

“Yes, Anna?” Oh, so the head talked. Great. 

 

“Guys, this is Gideon. She’s an AI from my time. We’re going to use her to sort through the data we gathered.”  _ Right. Future tech. Sure. _

 

Felicity’s face lit up. “I know her! She’s the AI on the Waverider.”

 

“Yes and no.” He had no idea what Ryder meant by that, but he was going to give all of this a pass. “Gideon, we uploaded all the data from the water treatment plants. Can you go through it and see if you can find any abnormalities?”

 

“Of course, Anna. I’ll get right on it.” And then the head was gone. That was all well and good, but what was their next step?

 

“Okay, so what do we do in the meantime?” he asked. 

 

“I’d like to take a small team back to the water treatment facility that Felicity was at, and see if those guys are still there or if we can figure anything out about their intentions.” Good idea. He’d want to be on the team, but he wanted to make sure Ryder was fully equipped with everyone she needed.

 

“Alright. Who do you want on the recon team?” 

 

“Me, you, and Don. Everyone else stay ready, in case we need back-up.” So it was to be more travelling with a speedster, then. Might as well get it over with.

 

He turned to Don. “You ready?”

 

“Always.” And they were off.

 

There were three suspicious-looking men at the water treatment facility, and Oliver immediately gestured for the three of them to duck behind some piping. 

 

“ _What did the little blonde one put on this pipe?_ ” Oliver turned toward Ryder. They both grimaced. She at least knew Russian when she heard it. 

 

“ _ Whatever it is, it won’t come off _ ,” said the second one. 

 

“ _ Should we tell the boss about this? _ ” asked the third.

 

“ _ No, we did our job. The little blonde one is none of our business _ ,” replied the second one.

 

Ryder turned to Oliver. “Bratva. Do you recognize them?”

 

He shook his head. “No. They were saying that they had been hired to do a job and-”

 

“I heard what they were saying just fine.”

 

“You speak Russian?”

 

I nodded. “Read and write, too.”  _ Dang.  _ Had he taught her? Or was she just that good? 

 

Oliver turned to Don. “Are we in Central or Star City?” Something he probably should’ve asked before they went running.

 

“Central.” Interesting. He could tell you anything about the Star City Bratva, but Central City was a mystery to him. 

 

“Hmm. I haven’t had any dealings with the Central City Bratva.”

 

“Meaning they don’t have you blacklisted?” Ryder asked. She had a good point. It might actually be easier dealing with this unknown, if they were dealing with him as an unknown, as well.

 

“Let’s hope not. My name should carry some influence here. Just in case, though, I’ll go in alone.”

 

Ryder didn’t seem pleased with that. “Yeah, that’s not happening. I can negotiate with the Bratva just as easily as you can. We’ll go in together, with Don as a lookout.” 

 

“If you think you can handle it, fine. Do you know where they work out of?” Hopefully she knew something more than he did, which was nothing.

 

“Yeah. I’ve had some...dealings with them before.” That didn’t sound good, but Oliver was glad they had at least some intel. 

 

Don ran back to the Bunker and got the team some civilian clothes to change into. Don didn’t bother changing, but Ryder went behind some piping to change while Oliver quickly got out of his suit. Ryder then instructed Don where to take them, and they were speeding off again. Oliver really needed to take some Dramamine soon. 

 

Oliver turned his comm on once they got there. “Overwatch?”

 

“Copy.”

 

“We think these guys are CC Bratva. We’re going in to their HQ to verify.”

 

Felicity sucked in her breath. “Be careful. You’re not exactly the Bratva’s number one guy right now.”

 

“I know. But I’ve got Anna.” Before he could elaborate, Ryder came up to him. 

 

“Don cased the place out and figures there are 8 guys in there, as well as plenty of munitions.”

 

He nodded. “Remember, confidence is key. We don’t break.”  _ Because Ryder was such a breakable person _ . “And I guess I don’t need to remind you of that.”

 

“Let’s go.”

 

They decided to just stroll into the warehouse, commanding the attention of everyone inside.  

 

One of them spoke up. “This is private property, my friends.”  _ He doesn’t know what he’s in for _ .

 

“ _ We’re here to speak to your captain. _ ” 

 

“ _ Captain of what, comrade? _ ”

 

“ _ Bratva _ .” The men exchanged looks before someone from the back stepped forward. 

 

“ _ I am the captain here _ .”

 

“ _ Can we go speak somewhere in private? _ ”

 

“ _ And what about the girl? _ ” He needed her on the inside, but he didn’t want to draw their suspicions. 

 

“ _ She is my associate. You clearly have nothing to fear from her _ .” They followed the captain into an interior office, where he drew the blinds.

 

“I am Mikhail. I am Bratva captain. Excuse me if I do not understand, but who are you to Bratva?”

 

“I’m a captain as well. My name is Oliver Queen.”

 

“Oliver Queen, a Bratva captain?” He seemed to consider it, then he pointed his finger at him in a knowing gesture. “Ah, yes, I have heard of this. Mayor of big city, but actually Bratva. Bratva operates freely in city because of you, yes?”

 

He wasn’t wrong, but Oliver didn’t like admitting it. He nodded. “I was hoping you could provide me with some information.”

 

“For you, brother, of course.”

 

“Were you hired for a job at a water treatment facility?”

 

“Water treatment? Yes, I sent three of my men there today.” He was openly admitting it. This could go well for them.

 

“What did you send them to do?”

 

“They were to break in and, how do you say, _contaminate_ _water_?” He was being friendly...almost too friendly.

 

“Did they do it?” Ryder asked. 

 

“Nyet. Someone had already tampered with the water. We will report this.”

 

“Report it to who?” Ryder asked.

 

“I will keep that information to myself, girl. I have shared what I have out of respect for my brother. But you cannot give me orders.” They were lucky to get out of this with the information they had. It was a lead that Felicity could work with.  _ Time to go _ . 

 

Instead, Ryder stepped closer to the Bratva captain, getting in his face. “I challenge you to a duel for that information.”  _ WHAT? _

 

“Psssh. Do not insult me, girl, or you will pay.”

 

“I am not insulting you.” She strolled out of the interior room, into the view of all the Bratva assembled. “ _ I challenge you, Captain Mikhail, to a duel _ .” No Bratva captain with any honor could weasel his way out of that.

 

“ _ And what gives you that right? _ ”

 

She pulled back her shirt, revealing a Bratva tattoo.  _ What the- _

 

“ _ I am Bratva _ .”

 

No. This couldn’t be. Where had she gotten that tattoo? Speaking Russian was one thing, but when had she joined the mob? Simply unacceptable. Oliver pulled Ryder aside.

 

“What are you doing, Ryder?”

 

“We need this information, and this is the only way to get it.” No, they were plenty of other ways. Oliver could fight, for one. But more importantly was why she had been able to do this in the first place.

 

“How are you Bratva?”

 

“That’s a story for another time. For now, just trust me.”

 

“I’ll fight instead.” 

 

“Bratva fight shirtless. They’d see you don’t have a tattoo.”  _ Not anymore _ .

 

“Better that than try to believe a teenaged American girl is Bratva!”

 

The men were calling for Ryder’s head. They wanted their captain to kill her. It didn’t matter if she was Bratva or not, the captain had to go through with it now.

 

“He’ll kill you if you lose.”

 

“Lucky for him, I’m a bit more merciful.” She turned toward the captain. “ _ Are you ready? Or do you need time to gather your courage? _ ”

 

“ _ I will take you on, little girl _ .” 

 

The men formed a circle around Ryder and the captain. They both removed their shirts, causing Oliver’s protective instincts to soar through the roof. He had never felt like this before. He wanted to kill everyone in this room for treating his daughter like this, for forcing her to humiliate herself in front of them. 

 

When Oliver was finally able to return his eyes to the fight, it was clear Ryder had the upper hand. She had probably always had it, to be honest. She took an uppercut to his head, then she sneaked behind him for a choke hold. He hit her head, and Oliver physically had to restrain himself from going to help her. Ryder forced the captain to open his fist, and he saw the man had had something in his hand when he hit Ryder. He was cheating! That should be enough to call off the fight. However, Ryder made quick work of her opponent before Oliver was able to protest. 

 

“ _ Yield,”  _ she told him.

 

“ _ No _ .” 

 

“ _ Yield _ .”

 

“ _ I yield, I yield. _ ” 

 

“ _ By the Bratva code, you will give me what I ask. _ ”

 

“Da. The man who hired me called from this phone number.” He handed her something, which Ryder glanced at before tucking it away. She grabbed her shirt and strode out of the warehouse. Oliver hurried to follow her, giving all the men his best vigilante glare while leaving. 

 

Don quickly caught up to them outside the warehouse.  _ Where had he been when his best friend was fighting for her life?  _

 

“That was a great fight, Rye. You can probably put your shirt back on, not that I’m complaining….”  _ Excuse him? _ Oliver was furious, and he gave his last vigilante glare to Don, who bowed his head in recognition of the alpha male.  _ Good _ . 

 

Ryder finally got her shirt back on, hopefully creating no more issues.

 

“We got a phone number that Felicity should be able to trace. You ready to take us back to the Bunker?” Oliver ordered Don.

 

And off to the Bunker they whooshed.


	4. Chapter 4 (Felicity)

Felicity was getting worried that she hadn’t heard from Oliver in a while. She didn’t want to interrupt him by activating the comms, though, so she waited around with the rest of the team until she heard the familiar whoosh of speed that indicated a speedster had returned.

 

She looked up, to find Oliver and Anna in Don’s hold. As soon as he stopped, however, Don staggered, causing Anna to hold him until he got his balance again. 

 

“Is he okay?” Felicity asked.

 

“Yeah, let me just-” She poked around until she found their bags, which Felicity had moved under a nearby table. She dug around in one of the bags until she found a protein bar, and gave it to him. Don ate it quickly.

 

Anna and Don had their own conversation, but Oliver walked up to Felicity and told her, “Anna took on the Bratva captain and won.”

 

Felicity laughed humorlessly. “Risk herself for an unknown benefit? Seems like something she would do. But I’m surprised you avoided a chance to kick some Bratva butt.”

 

“Trust me, I didn’t have a choice.”

 

Don had left Anna, so she came closer to Felicity.

 

“So, what intel were you able to get from the Bratva?” asked Dinah. 

 

“Not much.” Anna replied. “Just this phone number, which I hope we’re able to backtrace.”

 

“Give it here.” Felicity held out her hand, grabbed the phone number and put it in her phone number backtrace algorithm. “It’s a burner phone.”

 

“Can you track it?”

 

“It’s basically untraceable, but that isn’t going to stop me.” At least bring her a challenge. “It’s in Central City, at this address.” 

 

“We’ll go check out the address in a bit, after Don has gotten some rest. Besides, we need to go to Central tonight anyway. Everyone go home and get some rest; be ready in case I need you tomorrow.” 

 

The rest of the team headed out, and Anna went to go check on Don, leaving Felicity and Oliver behind.

 

Felicity turned to Oliver. “Is she a good of a fighter as you remembered?”

 

Oliver smiled. “Better. You know it’s been two years since she last saw us? Gave her plenty of time to learn a thing or two.”

 

“Good to know you’re still teaching her in the future.” Felicity smiled at the thought of Oliver gaining a new young protege. She knew how important it was for him to have Roy and Thea around. Oliver was a good teacher, especially to young people, even if he didn’t want to admit it. And what better role model was there than him? Not the Green Arrow him, but  _ him _ him, Oliver Queen. Felicity’s phone buzzed. Her food order was here. “I’m going to go get this food, but I’ll be right back.”

 

Once she was back with the food, and had given Oliver his share, she said, “There’s still a little food left. Maybe Anna or Don want some?”

 

“Yeah, that would probably be good. We know how much speedsters eat.” They had to share a laugh at that. Every time Barry came to visit, Oliver had to make sure the fridge was stocked to the brim. Now it was Oliver’s phone that buzzed. Why couldn’t either of them ever just have some uninterrupted time together? “That’s Thea. Apparently there’s business at City Hall that just can’t wait.”

 

“That’s fine, I’ll hold down the fort here.” She smiled at him, and he smiled right back at her. Why couldn’t it always be like this? Oliver left.

 

Felicity went toward the back of the Bunker, and she could hear the two of them talking.

 

“You’re such a nerd,”Anna said.

 

“Yeah, but you love me.”  _ Oh _ .

 

“Yeah, I kinda do.”  _ OH _ . Felicity was definitely not meant to hear any of that, so she decided to just file it away for later. Although there wasn’t much interpretation needed for what had just been said. She made her presence known.

 

“Hey, I hate to interrupt, but I ordered food, if you want some, Anna or Don?” 

 

The two exchanged a guilty look, before Don spoke up. “I just had one of my energy bars, so I think I’ll just take a bit of a nap.”

 

“Anna?”

 

“Sure, I’ll join you.” 

 

Anna followed Felicity back to the main part of the Bunker, where Felicity had set out the rest of the food. 

 

“Oliver had to run to City Hall to take care of some business that Thea said just couldn’t wait. So it’ll just be you and me.” Anna had a look of sheer panic on her face. This “not liking Felicity” bit was going way too far. Anna started scarfing down her food, obviously in a ploy to get away from Felicity. Felicity decided to try and pin her down.

 

“So, this thing that happens in the future, this Event or whatever, you’re here to stop it?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So you’re here to purposefully change the timeline?”

 

“Yes, that’s the plan.”  _ Well, that made no sense _ .

 

“Why? I mean, last time you were here, you were doing everything possible not to change the timeline, but here you are, admitting that you’re going to change it.” 

 

“Last time I Traveled, I wasn’t sure of what the implications of anything I would do would be. Luckily, there weren’t too many ramifications. This time, though, I came prepared.”

 

“Even a well thought-out time travel mission can have unintended consequences.” Her and Cisco’s mission in the Waverider last year had proven that.

 

“I know. But that’s a risk we were willing to take. All of us.”  _ All of us? Even her and Oliver? _

 

“And me? Did I have any say in all of this?” 

 

“Everyone had a say. This was the decision.” Anna sounded like she didn’t want to talk anymore, and Felicity felt she had forced enough out of her. They ate in silence. When Anna was done, she excused herself. Felicity sighed. So much for getting through to her. 

 

Eventually, Oliver came back. Felicity was happy to see him. At least Anna could stand the sight of him. Felicity decided that she would want Oliver sharing something like this with her, so she decided to share with Oliver.

 

“I don’t think Anna likes me.” Felicity said bluntly.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“She’s been avoiding me ever since she got here. It wasn’t like this last time. Did I do something to her in the future to make her like this?”

 

“No, of course not. Look, I get that it’s not fun that she doesn’t like you, but what’s this really about?”

 

“She’s a future member of the team, and-” Before she could finish, Anna came walking in. 

 

“Don’s probably ready by now. Let’s suit up and get back to Central City.”


	5. Chapter 5 (Oliver)

Oliver didn’t even have time to down a ginger ale before Don sped him and Ryder to an apartment building in Central. 

 

“Overwatch, can you get as a more exact location on the cellular signal?” Ryder asked.

 

“Sorry, Anna, this is the best I can do. We really need to get you a code name.” Little did Felicity know that Anna was her code name.

 

“Anna’s fine.” Ryder pulled out her handy-dandy tablet. “Overwatch, I’m not detecting any cellular signals originating from this location.”

 

“Trust me, it’s in there.” Oliver trusted Felicity with his life, and he hoped Ryder would do the same, even if there had been a rift between them as of late.

 

“Stay outside and keep watch. Stay on comms,” Ryder instructed Don. 

 

“Green Arrow, let’s search floor by floor. You take the odd floors, I’ll take the even floors. Call in if you see anything remotely suspicious.” Oliver headed to the first floor. There really wasn’t much to see. The place had clearly been abandoned for a while. If their mastermind was truly hiding out here, he would be easy to smoke out. 

 

“Cleared the first floor. Headed to the third.”

 

“I’m almost done with the second.” 

 

After Oliver had searched all of his assigned floors, he met with Ryder on the roof. “We’ve searched this whole place and found nothing.”

 

“We haven’t checked the basement.” Oliver motioned Ryder to take the lead. Once they got to the basement, Oliver set up to kick down the door, but Ryder reminded him of her skill set. “No need. I’ll just pick it.”

 

“Right. You can do that.” Ryder picked the lock and they entered a dark basement. Oliver didn’t see any light switches, but Ryder was able to make her tablet glow. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary here, although there was another door that Ryder pointed out. The lock was completely rusted through, meaning kicking it in would be a snap. Ryder signaled for Oliver to back up, and he did as she kicked down the door. Oliver heard an earsplitting boom, and then-

 

He was out on the street, outside a building on fire. It took a second for his ears to clear, and when they did, all he could hear was the snap and crackle of fire. He turned to see a building-no, three buildings, completely on fire, collapsing. Ryder must’ve seen the buildings, as she gasped. Don’s face was completely blank. 

 

“Gideon!” Ryder cried, grabbing Don’s wrist.

 

The blue AI appeared. “Yes, Anna?”

 

“Timeline diagnostics?!?” Oliver didn’t know what that meant, but it didn’t sound good. 

 

“What has come to be known as the East Side Bombing causes 73 casualties, including 14 deaths.” Don collapsed, and Ryder soon joined him. If what Gideon was saying was true....

 

“I’m sorry, but what’s going on here?” Ryder looked up at him. “You’re telling me that fourteen people just died?”

 

“Yes and no. Some are dead now, some will succumb to injuries later.”  _ Later?  _ No, there was no time for that. Oliver needed to save those people now.

 

He called it in. “Overwatch, call in an explosion to CCPD and CCFD, at our location.”

 

“Oh my gosh, are you guys okay?” Oliver could hear the fear in Felicity’s voice.

 

“Yes, we’re fine. But there are 73 people in need of medical assistance. And see what you can figure out about the bombing.” Oliver started to run toward the collapsed buildings.

 

“Where are you going?” Ryder cried.

 

He turned to face her. “I don’t know about you, but there are at least 73 people in those buildings who need my help. I’m going to rescue as many of them as possible.”

 

She stood up. “You can’t.”

 

That was bull. Oliver could help whoever needed it. He was the Green Arrow, no matter what city he was in. “And why not? Because I don’t have super powers? Because I don’t know the future? I’m sorry, Ryder, but I’m not going to stop saving people just because you say I can’t.” 

 

“We need to go to STAR Labs, and you’re the only one who can get us in.” What was she talking about? What about saving lives?

 

“And you think that’s more important than saving these people?”

 

“I think the mission that we’re on is more important than the lives of those people in those buildings, yes.”

 

“The ones we unintentionally just killed?!? Just standing here arguing is putting them in danger.” He turned around and strode toward the rubble.

 

“One hundred twenty-six million, eight hundred fifty-three thousand, six hundred and seventy-six,” Ryder called out after him.

 

Oliver turned around again. “What?”

 

“That’s the number of people who are killed by the LP. That’s not even everyone who dies in the Event. So don’t tell me what is and what isn’t important! You think I don’t want to save those people in that building? Of course I do! But I decided what price I was willing to pay when I came on this mission, and I’m not going to have you tell me that I’m making the wrong calls!” 

 

Oliver weighed her argument in his head. Millions of people versus just a few in that building? He hated himself, but he walked back toward Ryder. “Okay. If you say we need to go to STAR Labs, then that’s where we’ll go.”

 

She squatted down next to Don, and they had a quick conversation before Don stood up and grabbed them, taking them off to STAR Labs.


	6. Chapter 6 (Felicity)

Ever since Oliver had called in the explosion, Felicity was working behind-the-scenes on coordinating the CCPD, CCFD and Central City General. Although she wasn’t an official dispatcher, this wasn’t the first time she had been an emergency responder. She redirected calls, helped weed through what was real and what wasn’t, and even directed traffic in Central to make it easier for first responders to get through. She even opened up her servers to some of the incoming call traffic so that the real call centers wouldn’t be overwhelmed.

 

She had to field some pretty tough calls. People who couldn’t find their children, people who spouses weren’t breathing, crying kids in the background of all of them. It was almost too much for Felicity to take. Oliver wasn’t answering his comms, but she knew he was there, helping out. She even told people so over the phone. She told them the Green Arrow was there and they didn’t need to worry.

 

She hoped Oliver was alright. He wasn’t answering his comms, and she figured he was just too busy, being a hero. It made her proud to know that her...Oliver was able to help people like this.

 

After the initial call traffic died down, she started trying to figure out the source of the explosion. If it was triggered remotely, she would be able to see the signal from here. But she didn’t see anything. That meant the bomb had probably been triggered onsite, either by someone there, or it had been tripped. Considering that anyone close to the bomb would’ve died, she figured it had been physically tripped. If she had Barry, the two of them could do some forensics on site, see what they could figure out anything from the bomb itself. As it was, with no Barry and not being in Central City, she resigned herself to answering more calls.

 

“Hello, 911, what is your emergency?”


	7. Chapter 7 (Oliver)

They arrived at the Cortex, which was already chock-full of people from Team Flash. Oliver didn’t even have time to register who they all were before Cisco was yelling.

 

“Okay, and who are you?” 

 

“Cisco, calm down. I brought some people who need your help,” Oliver said. He wasn’t sure what they needed help with, exactly, but he trusted Ryder.

 

“Oliver, can this wait? There was an explosion on the East Side and-” Barry had a point.

 

“No, this absolutely cannot wait. Mr. Allen, I need your help.” But Ryder had always been assertive when she needed to be.

 

“Why do you need Barry’s help? Who are you?” Iris asked. “Are you another speedster?”

 

“We’re from the future, your future,” Ryder responded.

 

“You’re from the future? When?” Barry asking questions even Oliver didn’t know the answer to.

 

“Further than you’ve ever been.”

 

Oliver decided to help out further. “Remember when we had a visitor from the future a few years ago? This is her. Anna’s on my team in the future. And yes, Don is another speedster. He’s apparently on your team in the future.”

 

“Don?” That seemed to trigger something from Iris.

 

“We’re here to prevent a catastrophe from happening,” Ryder said.

 

“Wait-there’s something out there worse than Savitar?” Wally asked.

 

“Yes. Much worse.”

 

Barry spoke up again. “If Oliver says you’re legit, that’s one thing. I’d love to help you, but we only just defeated Savitar, and I’m not sure how much use I’ll be in heading off another villain.”

 

“That’s actually not what I need. I need yours, Dr. Albert’s, and Dr. Wells’, and Dr. Brand’s skills as scientists, actually.”

 

Some blond guy in the corner piped up. “What do you need our help with?” Oh, so he was British then.

 

“I need you to reverse engineer this chemical to determine its origins.” Ryder pulled out her tablet and showed them something on it.

 

“That’s quite a complex chemical you have there.”

 

“It’s called LP. This is what it looks like after twenty years in the human body. I need to know what it looks like in raw or aqueous form.”

 

Dr. Wells grabbed her tablet out of her hand. “I’m sure we can figure out.” He nodded to the others.  Everyone strode out, but Barry turned toward Oliver.

 

“Oliver, you’re telling me there’s people to save and we’re supposed to be working on this problem instead?”

 

“I know it’s hard to understand, but this takes precedence.” Millions and millions of people had to. Oliver stared down Barry until he got the message and nodded.

 

“Alright. I’ll trust you.” He went out into the hallway, presumably to join the others.

 

Barry’s formerly-dead father spoke up next (Oliver wasn’t even going to ask). “So, if you don’t need the rest of us, we should go take care of that building collapse.” He looked to Wally, Cisco, and some girl all in leather.  _ When did Team Flash get so many weird characters _ ?

 

“I’m afraid I can’t have you doing that,” Ryder said.

 

“What do you mean, you can’t? I don’t take orders from you or anyone on this Earth.” Unsurprisingly, the leather-clad girl had some spunk.

 

“Because a chain of timeline-altering events has begun to unfold. And you and Mr. Garrick shouldn’t be anywhere near this Earth when it happens. I need you back home and safe.”

 

“You don’t have to worry about me, I’ll be just fine,” Barry’s dad said.

 

“We can’t know that. And until we get through this and solidify the timeline, no one in this room is to do anything dangerous or life-threatening, got it?”

 

Joe spoke up. “What do you mean, an altered timeline?”

 

Ryder went over to the whiteboard, and drew a straight line.

 

“This is the timeline as it was supposed to be after Savitar was killed. It leads directly to what we call the Event, which is a catastrophe of epic proportions.” She drew another line, this one diagonal. “This is the timeline I created when the building exploded. It branches off from the moment the bomb went off, and goes who knows where. That building explosion wasn’t supposed to happen. You were never supposed to go there. If you do, and you get hurt, that affects the timelines on your Earths, as well. In four days’ time, you can come back. But for now, the two of you,”  she pointed to Leather Girl and the old man, “need to go back to your Earths, and you,” she pointed at Wally, “need to stay close to home to make sure you stay safe. Got it?”

 

Leather Girl didn’t seem to like that. “You came back to change the timeline on purpose?”

 

“Yes. I will do whatever it takes to avoid the Event. What. Ever.” 

 

“If all of you are going along with it, fine. It’s your Earth. I’ll go back to mine and drop Garrick off on the way.” Apparently Barry’s dad was named Garrick now. She nodded to Cisco, then opened up a portal, and she and Garrick jumped through it.  _ That’s new _ .

 

Wally finally spoke up. “But there’s no reason I can’t go and help, right?”

 

“Yes, there is. If you get hurt in this altered timeline, you won’t be able to help out the team in the future when you’re needed.” 

 

“I don’t care. Those people need help.” Wally sped out of the Cortex. Awkward silence ensued.

 

“So you’re really from far in the future?” Cisco asked.

 

“Yes,” Ryder responded.

 

“What’s the future like?”

 

“It sucks,” Don answered, the first thing he’d said since they arrived at STAR Labs.  _ Insightful _ . 

 

“I don’t know how bad the future can be if you both have such dope suits, though,” Cisco observed.

 

Ryder sighed. “I know what you’re asking. Yes, Cisco, you made the suits.”

 

“Oh-ho-ho, that’s too awesome.”

 

“Cisco!” came in over the comms.

 

“Wally, what’s the problem?”

 

Silence.

 

“Hang on, Wally, I’ll be right there.” He turned to Don. “Flash Jr., you’re with me.” Don didn’t even respond before Cisco had a portal open, and the two of them were jumping through it. A few seconds later, they came back through with a clearly injured Wally.

 

“Wally!” Iris called out. 

 

Oliver strode up to Don and Cisco, and helped get Wally to the med bay. Ryder followed.

 

“What happened to him?” Iris asked.

 

“A support beam collapsed on him. We need Julian,” Cisco replied. 

 

“Don can take care of him,” Ryder said. 

 

Cisco turned to Don. “What can you do?”

 

“I trust him,” Iris jumped in.  _ That was quick _ . “Please, just figure out what’s wrong with him.”

 

“Gideon,” Don called out.

 

“Yes, Don?”

 

“Whoa!” Cisco cried out as Gideon emerged.

 

“Run a medical diagnosis on Wally.” Don held out his watch over Wally’s torso, and waited as Gideon scanned him. 

 

“Mr. West is suffering from third degree burns, a broken leg and a severe concussion.”

 

“Treatment plan?” Ryder asked.

 

“Mr. West needs to be soaked in cool running water with minimal head movement then cover the burns in burn ointment. He will only regain consciousness after his concussion subsides.”

 

Don rushed Wally off, probably to give him the prescribed treatment.

 

“Is Wally going to be okay?” Iris asked. 

 

“He’s in good hands. Don and Gideon know what they’re doing.”

 

“Is Flash Jr. also a doctor?” Cisco asked.  _ Flash Jr?  _ Everything clicked in Oliver’s head. He was about Ryder’s age, mixed race, and a speedster. Who else could he be?

 

“He’s a trained medic. He’s used to dealing with battle wounds.”

 

“What do we do next?” Oliver prompted.

 

“I’m going to go check in on the chemists, and then on Don and Wally.” Ryder headed out into the hallway. Oliver returned to the Cortex and had a seat. He knew when he wasn’t needed anymore. His only option was to wait until a speedster could take him to where he needed next.

 

He wasn’t used to not being in charge. And as much as he trusted Ryder, letting her take the lead was something else entirely. She was so much like him in so many ways. Stubborn, but a born leader. And she was so young to be able to do it, too. She was bossing around people twice her age like it was completely normal. Maybe to her, it was.  _ What kind of time was she from? _

 

After a while, he headed back into the hallway to check on what happened next. He found Ryder and Don just outside.   
  


“Are we going to head back to Star City?” Oliver asked.

 

“Yeah, they seem to have a handle on things here. I’ll check up again in the morning,” Ryder responded.

 

And they whooshed off again.


	8. Chapter 8 (Felicity)

 

Once things had calmed down a bit at the bombing site, Felicity felt comfortable leaving the rest of the calls to the professionals and started investigating the bombing. It hadn’t been triggered remotely, since there was no signal. But no one could’ve been there to trigger it and still lived, not unless they were a speedster. She hoped to goodness that wasn’t the case. The only other explanation was that Oliver and Anna had tripped it somehow. But she’d need more forensics knowledge to really understand it. 

 

Just as she was solidifying her findings, Oliver, Anna, and Don sped in.

 

“I thought you were going to stay and help the CCFD out with the bombing.”

 

“Apparently not.” Oliver looked upset. “We went to STAR Labs instead.”

 

“STAR Labs?” Felicity turned to Anna, who she understood to be the leader of this mission. Why would they take such a detour when lives were at stake? Felicity had been telling people the Green Arrow was going to save them.

 

“I’m having the scientists there look at the structure of LP and see what they can determine.”

 

“Right. Well, I looked into that apartment building that got bombed, tried to see if there was anything suspicious. Funny thing is, the cell phone signal is still originating from the same point as it was before the bombing.”

 

Oliver shook his head. “That’s not possible. That building was decimated. It might’ve survived if it was in one of the adjacent buildings, but not at the point of origin of the detonation.” Now it was Don who was looking upset. Usually trips to Central City produced a lot more smiling faces than this.

 

Anna started playing on her tablet. “I’m still not getting any cellular signals from that location.” She glanced at Felicity’s readings. “Is the signal being bounced off a keyhole satellite?”

 

_ Frack _ . Felicity began to see what was happening. “Uhhh….yes. It is.”

 

“So it was a trap. And we fell for it. Where’s the real signal coming from?” Oliver asked.

 

“A shut-down fertilizer plant in the Glades.” At least Felicity was able to provide that information. 

 

“Who owns it?”

 

“Rickman Industries.” Felicity had never dealt with that company before, so would have no idea why anyone would hide anything there.

 

“Let’s go check it out.” Anna turned to head out.

 

“Wait,” Oliver cut off her march. “If we rush in without our heads on straight, we’re going to fall into another trap. Let’s bring the whole team in tomorrow and take a look at it. With everyone there, we’ll get better surveillance and avoid any tricks.”

 

Anna looked torn, but Felicity knew Oliver was right. And considering Oliver was usually the first one to rush in, that was saying something. “Fine. Could you let the team know I want them here first thing?”

 

Anna went to go talk to Don, and Oliver turned to Felicity. “Can you make sure the entire team knows? This is priority number one. I want to take this as seriously as anything else. Whoever set up that trap wasn’t messing around. They want us dead.”

 

“Yeah, I got it. Deadly threat, sinister plot, the works.” Felicity began sending messages to the team, and waited until they responded with 10-4s. 

 

Felicity turned to see if Anna needed anything else, and saw Don and Anna do an almost-hug. It was simultaneously the most awkward and most adorable thing she’d seen in her life. She just couldn’t hold it in anymore, not even in front of Oliver.

 

“How cute! A member of Team Arrow and a member of Team Flash dating!”

 

Oliver turned, as he and Anna exclaimed at the same time, “Dating?”

 

“Why would you say something like that?” Anna asked a bit too quickly. 

 

“Oh, come on, it’s totally obvious how you are around each other. Plus, I heard you basically declare your love for each other earlier.”

 

Poor Oliver’s head was spinning. This was somehow worse than the Thea/Roy situation. “You’re saying....you’re dating...him?”

 

As entertaining as this was, Oliver clearly had some things to sort out with his young protege. “I’m actually going to go home. I told the whole team to get here early, so….okay, I’m gone.” And she was out.


	9. Chapter 9 (Oliver)

Don turned to Ryder. “Why don’t I leave you and your dad to...talk?” She nodded, and he literally flashed off to the back of the Bunker.  _ Coward _ .

 

“So that’s your boyfriend?” Oliver was trying to go for calm, cool, and collected as he sat down across from Ryder.  _ You knew she was dating. Be cool _ . 

 

“Yeah.” Okay, she could’ve been a little more helpful than that.

 

“How long have you two been together?”

 

“Two and a half years.” That was quite some time for someone her age. Goodness knows he had never kept a relationship that long...ever.

 

“So that was the boyfriend you talked about last time.”

 

“Yep. Is this going to be a problem?” That she was dating the boy who had so clearly been ogling her when she had her shirt off before? No, that wasn’t going to be a problem at all. 

 

“No, of course not. I just never imagined that my daughter and the Flash’s son would get together.” It had taken him a long time to put together, too long. But after seeing the way Iris looked at him in STAR Labs, and the obvious fact that he was a speedster, he wondered why he didn’t know it immediately. 

 

“You know?”

 

“Come on, Ryder, you can’t bring in a biracial speedster from the future and try and convince me he’s anyone but Barry and Iris’ kid.”

 

“Right.” 

 

“Does he treat you well?” At least give him that.

 

“Seriously, Dad?”

 

“I’m being very serious here.”

 

“You don’t think you would’ve killed him by now if he didn’t?”

 

“True.” Good to know he was still capable of murder in the future. 

 

Silence prevailed. It wasn’t as awkward as last time, but it left Oliver alone with his thoughts. What did her mother think about their daughter dating the Flash’s kid? He thought that Felicity would be over the moon with that news. But did it matter what Felicity thought if she wasn’t her mother? It could be her. After all, he thought it was going to be...and that hadn’t worked out at all. 

 

“I thought it was going to be Laurel,” he whispered. 

 

“You thought what was going to be Laurel?”

 

“Your mother.”

 

“You thought Mom was Laurel?” What else was he supposed to think? Did Ryder just want him to never think about it again? It was his responsibility to find her mother, after all, and make sure she lived.

 

“Your name. I thought we were continuing the tradition.”

 

“If you thought you were going to end up with Laurel, why did you get engaged to Felicity?”

 

“I didn’t know…” he chuckled humorlessly, “I didn’t know what I was doing. I thought maybe I was wrong, and it could be Felicity. But then I learned about William, and she broke up with me, and Laurel died, and it left me thinking...who could it be? Then I started dating Susan, but that ended in disaster. And I’m starting to worry...what if I screw this up and you and Tommy aren’t born at all?”

 

“I’m sorry about Laurel. I know I only got to meet her briefly, but I can see how much she meant to you and the team. And I’m sorry that your personal life hasn’t been going great of late, I really am.” She could say that again. “I don’t know what to say. I’m not going to tell you who Mom is. That’s something you need to figure out.” 

 

“There was a time last year, I thought I was ready. Ready to be a husband, ready to be your dad, but now I realize...I’m not. I’m not sure I’ll ever be. Chase showed that to me, and-”

 

“I wish you wouldn’t say that, Dad. You’re going to be a great dad when the time comes. It just hasn’t yet.” It was starting to feel to Oliver like maybe it never would.

 

“If I’m such a great dad, then why didn’t I come back with you on this mission to help? Why did I let you go all by yourself?” He was constantly doing this to her, it seemed. Letting her go on missions to the past with no back-up. This time it sounded like it wasn’t a haphazard decision, that he had told her to go.

 

“I’m not alone. I have Don.”

 

“You know what I mean.”

 

“It’s not as simple as that. You coming back in time is almost a guaranteed paradox. It’s against Traveler rules. You couldn’t have come even if you had wanted to.” 

 

“If you say so.” Oliver wasn’t convinced. How could he do this to his daughter? “Look, you need to go get your rest. Go to bed, I’ll be along shortly.”

 

“Go ahead and brood all night.” She knew him too well, apparently.

 

“Good-night, Ryder,” he called out.

 

“Good-night, Dad.” It still made Oliver’s heart beat faster when she called him that. He knew, in his head, that that’s what they were to each other. It was another thing entirely for her to say it in such an off-hand way, like this was what she was used to. Oliver certainly wasn’t. It was like every year, he got more information on kids he didn’t realize he even had. First, it was Ryder and Tommy, then William, now Ryder again. He wished he could just talk with someone about everything that was going through his head. 

 

_ Felicity _ . That was the first name that popped into his head. Of course it was. Whenever he wanted to talk about anything, he wanted to talk about it with her. That hadn’t changed even after they had broken up. It probably never would. But talking to Felicity about his kids? That seemed unfair to him, since they probably weren’t hers. He had given up that chance when he had lied to her and she had rightly broken things off. Now, though, with her seemingly willing to give him a second chance, he didn’t know what was going to happen. Could she be Ryder’s mother? Oliver found himself smiling despite the circumstances. He could easily imagine a lifetime with Felicity and their kids, maybe even William back in the picture. He took these thoughts with him in his dreams as he went off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10 (Felicity)

Felicity groaned as her alarm clock went off. She knew she had promised Oliver she’d get to the Bunker super early that morning, but how early did she really have to be? She slammed the snooze button and rolled back over. Before she knew it, her phone buzzed. She took a look at it. A text from Oliver: “Where are you?”

 

She typed back: “Be right there.” She threw on some jeans and a top, not bothering with anything but mascara and lipstick this morning. She needed to get to the Bunker right away. She didn’t want Oliver thinking she didn’t care right now, not when she cared as much as she did. Both about the team and about him. 

 

Once she was at the Bunker, she saw that Oliver had brought in bagels for the team.  _ Someone’s in a good mood this morning _ . He smiled at her when he saw her, and she strode up to him.

 

“Thanks for bringing in breakfast.”

 

“Well, I gotta make sure my team gets off to a healthy start.”

 

“What’s up with you? Did you have a good talk with Anna last night?”

 

He smiled at her again. “Something like that.”

 

Anna and Don came stumbling into the main part of the Bunker. Anna looked like she hadn’t slept a wink, while Don looked a bit better. 

 

“Good morning,” Oliver said to Anna. “Did you get any sleep last night?”

 

“Enough. Is everyone ready?”

 

“Just waiting on your plan.” Don brought her a bagel, like a good and attentive boyfriend, and Felicity went to her work station. Anna came up to her and asked her to pull up the fertilizer plant specs. She happily obliged. 

 

Anna called everyone to attention. “Alright, everyone, listen up. As you probably already heard, last night, we entered a trap that caused a minor explosion.”

 

“Eleven people are confirmed dead, Little Blondie. We’re calling that minor now?” Felicity winced. It was up to eleven? She could only imagine it was going to be more. It was being called a terrorist attack, and the country was on high alert until the suspects were caught.

 

“It could’ve been worse.” That was one way to look at it, but probably not the right one. “What I’m saying is now you guys are going to make sure that nothing like that happens again. We won’t be in a residential area, and surveillance shows that the plant has been abandoned for at least three months, with not even security personnel on site.”

 

“So what are we looking for?” Dig asked.

 

“Anything remotely suspicious. There’s a cell signal coming from this building that’s linked to someone that’s interested in poisoning the water supply.”

 

“How do we know this isn’t another trap?” asked Curtis.

 

“We don’t. But it’s the only lead we have, and we’re going to go with it.”

 

“What’s the plan?” Oliver asked.

 

“We’re going to go in in teams of two from each of the building’s four corners. Rene, you’re with Curtis in the northeast corner. Dinah, with Dig in the northwest corner. Oliver, you’re with Don in the southeast, and I’ll go with Thea to the southwest.” Those were solid pairings that the team had used before. It balanced team member’s strengths.  “We’re going in with the utmost caution, and we’re not stopping until we’ve swept the whole plant. Call in anything suspicious at all. Got it?”

 

The team nodded and headed out. 

 

“Anna?” Felicity called out after her.

 

Anna headed back to her. “Yeah?”

 

“Keep your comms on, okay?” Anna was known for turning them off, and Felicity didn’t want to have to worry about Anna in the field, even if Anna didn’t like her.

 

“Yeah, I will,” Anna said dismissively.

 

After the team had headed out, Felicity pulled up thermal on the plant using the PalmerTech satellite. They really needed to get around to changing the security of that thing. She knew Ray didn’t mind her using it, but she was fairly certain the current CEO would have a major problem with it. Everyone radioed in as being in position, and Anna told the team to move in. Felicity waited to see if there were any doors that needed opening or any tech that she could hack into. After half an hour of nothing but idle chatter, it seemed the place was tech-free. Felicity was disappointed she couldn’t be helpful and that there was nothing good for them to use. 

 

After a while, it seemed like Anna had something.

 

“Guys, I found the phone. It’s the same one we traced.”

 

“Do you want us to keep searching?” Oliver asked.

 

“Yeah. It makes no sense for anyone to stash the phone here. We need to figure out what this place is.”

 

“Speedy, the door’s locked on my side.” Felicity was immediately on high alert. 

 

“On my side, too.” And higher alert.

 

“Overwatch, I’m in the southwest corner of the building, in a small chemical lab. I’ve been locked in.” Felicity immediately started trying to access it. But there was nothing there. No electronic lock, no electronics at all. There was nothing to hack. Felicity couldn’t even sense Anna’s tablet. It was like electronics...didn’t exist in this area.

 

“Anna, I’ll come and speed you out.” She waited for Don to rescue Anna. “I can’t speed. There must be a meta dampener somewhere.” It was another trap. Someone had known there was a speedster last night and worked to counteract it. They were dealing with a powerful agent here. But who?   
  


“There’s some kind of gaseous agent infiltrating the room, and there’s no ventilation. Guys, the gas wasn’t turned on remotely. It had to have been assessed on site.”

 

“We’ll find him.” Oliver said. “We’ve cleared the building. There’s no one here. No vehicles besides ours, either.” 

 

“Green Arrow, thermal isn’t picking up anyone there but you guys. No one was accessing that gas. It had to have been done remotely.” Felicity knew she was right, but it didn’t make any sense. 

 

“Anna?” Oliver asked gruffly. Nothing. “Anna?!?”

 

Felicity came up with her best plan. “Curtis, you need to use your T-spheres to blow the door off.”

 

“You think I haven’t thought of that? What if the gas is combustible? I’d blow up Anna and who knows who else?”

 

Oliver’s desperate voice came over the comms. “Do it, Curtis. She’s dead either way.”

 

“Got it. I’ll be right there.” After a minute, she heard Curtis’ voice again. “Okay, get back.” Felicity didn’t know who he was speaking to, who was all crowded around the door. She heard the sound of an explosion, and she could only hope that Anna would get through this.


	11. Chapter 11 (Oliver)

Oliver rushed in as soon as Curtis’ explosion had gone off. He found Ryder passed out, slumped against the debris of the door. He grabbed her and quickly moved to take her back to the van. Thea came up to his side, apparently to help him with Ryder.

 

“Keep searching the building. Let me know as soon as you find anything,” he managed to grunt at her. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. He wasn’t holding his unconscious daughter in his arms. He quickly deposited her in the passenger seat of the van and headed for the Bunker. 

 

“Overwatch?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Do we know what’s wrong with her?”

 

“I’m analyzing the gas samples that Curtis’ T-spheres picked up. It’s blood poisoning. She’s going to need a transfusion ASAP.”

 

“Does anyone know her blood type?” He was met with silence. “Don?” More silence. Was the kid really that unhelpful? 

 

Felicity’s voice broke through. “We’ve lost transmission with the the team. I don’t know what’s happening. I’m trying to get it back up.”

 

After breaking all known speed limit laws, as well as pushing the van far beyond its normal limits, Oliver arrived at the Bunker. He ran her down and put her on the medical table. He started rolling up his sleeve, ready to give her his blood.

 

“Oliver, what are you doing?”

 

“Prepping for the transfusion.”

 

“She needs someone with a compatible blood type.” That had to be him, right? He was her father, after all. “You’re Type A. That means Anna would also have to be Type A.”

 

“We don’t have time for this.”

 

“We don’t have time to give her the wrong blood type, either.” Felicity plucked a strand of Anna’s hair and ran it over to her lab. “I don’t have a blood typer, but we can run a DNA analysis to figure it out.”

 

“Fine. Make it fast.” Oliver started preparing Ryder for a transfusion. He was relatively confident they had the same blood type, since they were related, but he couldn’t be sure that was how it worked. He had to trust Felicity. She connected the line from him to Ryder, just waiting for Felicity’s signal to start the blood flowing.

 

“She’s Type A. Go.”

 

Oliver started letting his blood flow through the tubing, hoping it wasn’t too late. He checked her pulse and breathing. She was still with him. Felicity rolled a chair over to Oliver and he gratefully sat down. 

 

“How will we know when it’s enough?” 

 

Felicity glanced at the machine facilitating the transfusion. “Standard blood donation is a pint of blood. We’ll start with that, and then see if you need to give more. Rene is also Type A. When he gets back, I’m sure he’ll be willing to give as well.” 

 

Oliver was less sure of that, and would rather that she have only his blood. He was family, after all. The machine beeped, and Felicity helped Oliver disconnect from Ryder. She patched him up, and connected an IV tube to Ryder just in case. Neither of them were medical experts, but this wasn’t the first time someone had suffered poisoning in the field. 

 

Once Ryder seemed stable, Felicity went back to her computers, and Oliver settled in to watch over Ryder. He wanted to be there when she woke up to let her know that everything was okay. It was the least he could do. Suddenly, Felicity gasped. 

 

Oliver stood up. “What? What is it?”

 

Felicity held up some papers. It looked like Ryder’s DNA analysis. “She’s your daughter.”

 

_ Here we go _ .


	12. Chapter 12 (Felicity)

 

After Felicity had gotten in contact with the team and had been informed that the cell phone was blank, she wanted to look over Anna’s DNA to see if there were any other abnormalities they needed to account for while patching her up. Instead, she saw familiar pattern. Extremely familiar. She gasped.

 

“She’s your daughter.” 

 

Oliver looked at her in sheer panic. “No, she’s not.” He was lying. That much was clear. That meant he knew. 

 

“How long have you known?”

 

“Felicity-”

 

“How long?”

 

“Since the last time she was here. I figured it out.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“She told me not to. She didn’t want to ruin the timeline anymore than she already had.”

 

“Right. That makes sense.”

 

“Please don’t be mad.” Felicity didn’t know what she was feeling right now. Surprise, disbelief, hurt. Anger? Maybe. “I’m just trying to keep her safe.”

 

“I get it, Oliver. I do. But what difference does keeping it from me make? How would I screw up the timeline by knowing?”

 

“I don’t know. I don’t know about any of this stuff.” Anna began to stir. 

 

“We will talk about this later. But right now…”

 

Oliver nodded. “Right.”

 

Felicity walked over to Anna. “You’re awake.”

 

“Yeah, I am.” 

 

“Lucky you and your father have the same blood type.” Felicity was done with all this secret-keeping.

 

“Yeah, we’re both A.” And apparently Anna was done with the secrets, too. “Which you would know if you were real.”  _ What? _

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Look, you already made your point, you don’t want me here. But get used to it.” If anything, Felicity assumed Anna didn’t want her here, not the other way around.

 

“I never said I didn’t want you here. I just wish you had told me the truth.”

 

“Literally a minute ago, you were Mr. Allen, and you were telling me I shouldn’t have time travelled.”  _ What the what? _

 

“Are you hallucinating? I’m not Barry. I’m Felicity.” 

 

A look of recognition dawned her face, followed by panic. “Look, Felicity, I didn’t mean-”

 

“Save it. I know Oliver’s your father, Anna.”

 

Anna looked at Oliver. “How does she know?” 

 

“He didn’t tell me, if that’s what you mean,” Felicity jumped in. “We needed to know your blood type, so I ran a DNA analysis on you. That told me your blood type.”

 

“So? Not all people with type A are related.”

 

“No, but I looked closer at your DNA. One of your X chromosomes looked a little too familiar.”

 

“She put it together, Anna, I’m sorry.” Oliver looked disappointed in himself. Apparently he had never wanted Felicity to know.

 

“Who else knows?”

 

“No one else was here when we found out. The team is too busy searching every inch of that plant.”

 

“Are they safe?”

 

Oliver looked at her in disbelief. “Are they safe? You’re not going to ask about the life-saving blood transfusion we just did or the fact that you almost died?!?”

 

“Clearly it worked, because I’m alive. Is the team safe?”

 

“The team’s fine,” Felicity said. “Don was with them.”

 

“Why didn’t you just ask him my blood type?”

 

“We lost communication with the away team for a few minutes.” 

 

“Were you able to figure out what’s going on with the tech? How were they operating the door and the meta dampeners remotely?”

 

Mom looked down. “No. We still don’t know how they were operating their systems. All we know is they’re definitely trying to get us out of the way.”

 

“Yeah, I can tell that much. Were we able to get anything off of the flip phone?”

 

“No. It was wiped clean.”

 

“Wait, what? It still had some information on it when I looked at it back at the plant.” How was that possible? Who had wiped it and how?

 

“You need to lie down and relax.” Oliver was right.

 

“I’ll relax when I’m dead.”

 

Oliver looked enraged. “Don’t say that. Do. Not. Do you know how close I got to losing you today?”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“You’re fine now. But I had to watch that nerve agent almost kill you. We weren’t sure I would be able to get the blood to you in time and…” 

 

“I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

 

“Just promise me it won’t happen again.” 

 

“I can’t promise that. But I’ll try and be more careful next time.”

 

Felicity cleared her throat. “Well, there won’t be a next time for you for a while. You probably won’t gain your strength back until you’ve at least had a full night’s rest.” 

 

“Fine. I’ll work the evidence on this side of the field.” Felicity was surprised by that. Everything she knew about Anna was that she wanted to be in the field at all times. “What? Sometimes I can be agreeable.”

 

“That hasn’t been my experience.”

 

“Is Anna up yet?” The comms were going off. Felicity went to grab a headset to bring to Anna’s bedside. 

 

“Don? It’s me.”

 

“Oh, Anna, thank goodness.”

 

“I’m fine. The blood transfusion worked. I’m just sitting here, draining an IV. What’s the report there?”

 

“I’m at STAR Labs, checking on the team’s progress.”

 

“Anything yet?”

 

“They’ve made some progress, but it’s slow.”

 

“Alright, keep me updated.” She switched the headset over to the away team. “How are you guys doing?”

 

“Anna, you’re awake!” At least Dig was being optimistic. “We haven’t found anything, but we’ll keep looking.”

 

“You mean my T-spheres will keep looking.” 

 

“Curtis?”

 

“Yeah, Little Blondie, this is an open line.” Rene. 

 

“Got it. Stay safe, everyone, we’ll figure this out.” Felicity took the headset back, and went to go look over the building schematics again. Still nothing digital or technical in sight. She was also able to overhear Oliver and Anna’s conversation. 

 

“How can I let you do this?” Oliver had a point. What kind of father let his daughter be a vigilante, when he knew all of the risks it entailed?

 

“Huh?”

 

“In the future, how can I be a father who’s okay with watching my daughter come this close to death day after day?”

 

“It’s not always like this, you know that.”

 

“That’s not what I meant. When Felicity was trying to stick that needle in me earlier, I was shaking so badly it almost didn’t work. That’s how scared I was, Ryder. I can’t imagine any future where I would let any child of mine live this life.”

 

“There are events that happen that make this work. Things are different in the future.”

 

“No. They can’t be that different. There is no world where I’m okay with this.” Oliver got up and walked away, leaving poor Anna alone with her thoughts. 

 

Once Anna was able to get up, she joined Felicity in looking through the data the T-spheres had collected. Felicity tried making small talk to make this slightly less awkward.

 

“So are you from far in the future?” 

 

“I can’t really tell you when I’m from.”

 

“I was just wondering if you haven’t been born yet, or if you’re one of Oliver’s secret children.” Felicity didn’t know what she would do if Oliver had been keeping two secret children from her. She knew Oliver had had his philanderings before the island, and she had made peace with that. But if Oliver had made the exact same mistake twice? That she couldn’t.

 

“I haven’t been born yet. And I’m nobody’s secret.”

 

“Got it.” The next thing Felicity wanted to ask seemed a little less personal, but Anna was hesitant on answering any questions at all. 

 

“What?”

 

“I’ve been wondering this ever since 2015. Who taught you to code? Because you’re amazing.”

 

“I learned from one of the world’s best hackers. Taught me everything I know.”  _ Oh _ . So she hadn’t learned from Felicity, then.

 

“Ah, so Team Arrow gets another hacker in the future. Interesting.” 

 

Dinah’s voice came through the comms. “Hey, guys, we found something.” 

 

“What is it?” Anna asked.

 

“It looks like some kind of transmitter? I don’t really know, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

 

“Can you get it back here?” asked Felicity.

 

Dig spoke next. “No, this thing is bolted solid to the wall. You’ll have to come here and take a look.”

 

“We’ll be right there,” Anna responded. Felicity turned off the comms and turned to Anna.

 

“I’ll go. You won’t.”

 

“Why not? My IV is drained.”

 

“You need solid rest and more to eat. You’re in no condition to go out, and that’s final.” She now got Oliver’s fiercely protective instinct when it came to Anna. Knowing that it was Oliver’s child had given her that same instinct as well, to protect and keep her safe. 

 

“Fine. But let me know as soon as you have it figured out.”

 

“Of course.” 

 

Felicity got into the van and drove off to meet the team at the fertilizer plant. Being left alone with her thoughts was pretty scary right about now. Oliver had a future-vigilante child. Actually, Felicity was surprised with herself that she didn’t see it sooner. The stubborn streak, the desire to protect her city, it was all Oliver’s MO. The only thing that didn't match was the hacking, but anyone could’ve taught her that. It was possible that Felicity herself had even had a hand in it. 

 

But the biggest thing that went through her head was that if Anna was divulging all her secrets, why didn’t she just come out and say who her mother was? Oliver hadn’t given any indication whether he knew or not. Felicity was hoping that she and Oliver were going to reconcile, that they were going to be end game. With all of their secrets out of the way, there were new promises that could be made and kept. Felicity had forgiven Oliver, and thought she had made it pretty clear she was paving the way for a new relationship. But apparently that didn’t happen. Oliver had another endgame in mind, one with Anna’s mother.  _ And Anna’s brother’s _ . Felicity breathed in deeply. It appeared she and Oliver were now on two diverging paths. And she didn't know if she would be able to fix it.

 

These thoughts kept going through her head as she met up with the team and scanned the object for Anna. 

 

“Anna, I’m sending you the specs of the object now. See what you can make of it.”

 

“Copy, Overwatch.”

 

Felicity took a careful look at the device after she had sent the specs to Anna. She recognized part of the device as a metahuman dampener, which made sense. It was the other part she didn’t know what to do with. It looked like a field generator, but was that part of the meta dampener, or something else?

 

“Overwatch, I looked over the schematics.” Hopefully Anna had something. 

 

“And?”

 

“I recognize them. They basically make tech invisible. No way we could’ve broken through.” That would explain how the gas had been activated remotely without them noticing, and why she couldn't access the electronic locks on the laboratory door. But no one could design tech that Felicity Smoak couldn’t out-hack.

 

“Something that like that wouldn’t have kept me from saving you. There’s just no way.”

 

“What if it was designed by your father?”

 

Noah Kuttler? He had designed this tech? Felicity looked at the field generator again. It was certainly something Kuttler could’ve come up with. The only question is why. 

 

“That man is not my father. He lost that right.”

 

“Okay, well, I know these schematics. They’re Noah Kuttler’s.”

 

Oliver chimed in. “So you’re saying he’s involved in this somehow?”

 

“I don’t know. Our culprit could’ve stolen them, or maybe Noah didn’t know-”

 

But Felicity knew her father. “No, he knew. He once tried to take down the subway system. This isn’t beyond him.”

 

Oliver tried reasoning with her. “I don’t know, Noah helped us out last time-”

 

“Only to save his own skin. He’s evil, plain and simple.”

 

“I’ll start a search to see if I can track down Kuttler. He may be good, but even he can’t fight my tech.” Anna should have just as much luck as Felicity.

 

Oliver chimed in again. “Before you do that, Anna, have you had anything to eat since you’ve woken up?”

 

“Are you serious right now?”

 

“I’m very serious. You need some more glucose in your system.” 

 

“Fine. I’ll eat something.”

 

“There’s some sandwiches in the fridge,” Dig offered.

 

“Is there a mass conspiracy to get me to eat a sandwich now?”

 

“Just don’t want you passing out on us again, Little Blondie.”

 

“Ooh, I like that nickname.” Apparently even Thea was in on the scheme to embarrass Anna.

 

“I’m shutting down these comms if you guys are going to act like this.”

 

The team returned to the Bunker, and Oliver sent everyone but Felicity and Curtis home. She knew what she needed to do: find her father. It wasn’t a question of how or why, it was a question of what: what if she didn’t really want to?


	13. Chapter 13 (Oliver)

Anna went off to check on the team in Central City, and Oliver settled in with Felicity and Curtis. There wasn’t much he could do to help, technically, but he knew that keeping Felicity company and making sure she remembered to eat was just as important as being a third hacker. 

 

Curtis got up to go to the bathroom, and Oliver started at Felicity, who had her mad face on. “You’re still angry.”

 

“I’m not angry.”

 

“Then why aren’t you talking to me?”

 

“I’m a little busy here, Oliver.”

 

“Come on, we both know you can run a tracking algorithm and talk to me at the same time.”

 

Felicity turned to face him. “Fine, you want to talk? Let’s talk. Let’s talk about how you lied to me.”

 

“I had to lie to you. I lied to everyone. I’m still lying to them.”

 

“Why, Oliver? Why couldn’t you just tell me?”

 

“Honestly? I wanted to tell you. You were the first person I wanted to tell. And when we were...together, I thought, maybe-”

 

The computer beeped. Felicity radioed Ryder. “Anna, we found Kuttler.”

 

“We’ll be right there.” Ryder and Don appeared. “Where is he?” 

 

“He’s currently staying at the Grand Hotel here in Star City.” 

 

“Okay, let’s get going. Felicity and Curtis, I know he’s teamed up with you before, so you two will come with me.”

 

“What about me?” Oliver asked.

 

“I don’t think you’re his favorite person. This isn’t going to be a fight, so we’ll be fine.” 

 

Ryder turned to Don. “Make sure to get some rest, alright?”

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

Don went off to his cot, and Felicity, Curtis, and Ryder went after Kuttler. 

 

Oliver thought about Felicity's words. Why hadn’t he told her? Back before the William drama, before the break-up. He could’ve told her without affecting the timeline, couldn’t he have? He wasn’t sure, but he felt like that was possible. Was it that he wasn’t willing to take that risk? 

 

It wasn’t the timeline. It was Felicity herself. He didn't want her to know, plain and simple. He had wanted his life to be normal, to unfold linearly. He didn't want the idea of a future daughter ruining his present with his fiancee. He had wanted to keep things simple, and so he hadn’t told her. He was selfish, wanting to keep the best thing in his life, his relationship, uncomplicated. But that hadn’t ended up working out. Things with Felicity couldn’t be simple because what he felt for her wasn’t simple. It was the most complex thing he had ever felt. She was his best friend, and the love of his life, and the woman he wanted to be with forever. It was unfair to keep things from her just for the sake of simplicity. 

 

Especially if she could be Ryder and Tommy’s mother.

 

\------------------------------------------------------

 

Oliver went over to check on Don. He knew Ryder did it a lot, so he figured it was something important to do. He found the kid playing with the AI in his watch, which he put away as soon as he saw Oliver.

 

“What exactly does that thing do?” Oliver asked.

 

“It helps me keep track of changes to the timeline.”

 

“So what in the timeline has changed?”

 

“Hard to say. Beyond the explosion, time hasn’t cemented yet. There could be big changes we know nothing about yet.” Oliver nodded, like he understood what any of this meant. How could time cement? Time wasn’t concrete mix, it was...time. “Do you know how Ryder and the team’s doing?”

 

“Nope. They’re not on comms. They’ll be fine, though.”

 

“I know. I still worry.”

 

“Trust me, I’m her father. I’m always going to worry about her.” Don gave him a furious look, and Oliver couldn't understand why. “What?”

 

“You’re not her father.”

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

“Not yet. And until she’s really your daughter, don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Don stormed off.

 

What did he mean, promises he couldn’t keep? Did he not do a good job of protecting Ryder in the future? 


	14. Chapter 14 (Felicity)

Felicity didn’t want to go. She had no desire to see her father, or whatever he was. It didn’t matter if her mother had kicked him out. He had still left without even a goodbye, and it had still been the most painful time of her life. He didn’t even deserve to see her, to know that she was okay. He was nothing to her. 

 

Anna set it up so that when Felicity knocked on the door, Noah would only see his daughter through the peephole. It made sense, but it didn’t mean Felicity had to like it. She knocked. The door opened.

 

“Well, you were the last person I was expecting to see here.”

 

“Save it, Noah,” Anna said, pushing her way into the room. Felicity and Curtis followed. Noah had quite a set-up going on here, not that she expected anything less. 

 

“Oh, and who are you?” Noah addressed Anna.

 

“Someone who’s come to stop you.”

 

“Stop me from doing what?”

 

Anna started poking around, and Felicity followed suite. There wasn’t anything incredibly suspicious here. No chemicals, nothing but computers. He didn’t even seem to have any dampeners or field generators.

 

“Your conducting of illegal business on the dark web, for one. But, more importantly, your plan to poison the whole city.”

 

“Yeah, we’re onto you,” Curtis added. 

 

“My plan to poison the city? Believe me, if I had such a plan, you’d never find out about it. Felicity, what are your friends rambling on about?”

 

Felicity stepped up. “We found your tech in the old Rickman Industries fertilizer plant. We know you left that phone there to set us up. And we know you hired those thugs to poison the city’s water supply.”

 

“I sell my tech to many well-connected people. I don’t know how it got into the hands of Rickman Industries, but you needn’t concern yourself with it.”

 

He was being purposefully cagey. Anna seemed to catch onto that, too. “Your network blocking transmitter prototype. Who has it?”

 

Noah turned to Anna. “Very good, young lady. Yes, that piece of technology is now in the hands of a very...persuasive individual.”

 

She ran up to him, grabbed his neck, and forced him up against the wall. “You’re going to tell me who you gave it to.”

 

“Now, now, no need to get feisty. I don’t know the identity of this individual. They contacted me through an intermediate, and only referred to themselves as ‘Mr. X.’” This was getting more interesting by the minute. Noah was only a go-between? That would make sense. That was usually how Noah got his finances.

 

“You can let him go now, Anna,” Curtis suggested. She did.

 

“How do we know we can trust you?”

 

“What reason do I have to poison the city? I live here.”

 

“What reason did you have to blow up the subway?” Felicity pointed out.

 

“Money. Just like there was money to loan my device to Mr. X. But there’s no profit in poisoning the city.”

 

Anna turned to Felicity, like she was looking for her input. Felicity weighed Noah’s words. They made sense. She nodded to Anna.

 

Anna turned to Noah. “Okay. I believe you. Give us everything you have on this Mr. X, and we’ll leave.”

 

“Oh, honey, I’m not going to make it that easy for you. As much as I hate to cut this family reunion short, you have some hacking to do, I think.”

 

Felicity narrowed her eyes at Kuttler, but led the way out. 

 

They got back to the Bunker, where Oliver was waiting for them. “So, what did you find on Kuttler?”

 

Felicity responded. “Not much. Apparently he lent the technology to someone called Mr. X. He claims to be in the dark about any plans to poison the city.” 

 

“I don’t believe it. He knows more than he’s saying.”

 

“Maybe, but I’m not exactly his favorite person. He has no reason to help me.”

 

Anna went back to check on Don, and Felicity started searching for this “Mr. X”. She had almost nothing to go on, just a tangential connection to Rickman Industries, and his generic misnomer. She sighed.

 

“What is it?” Oliver asked.

 

“I have no way of getting anything on this guy without a lead. I can cross-reference Rickman with the letter “X” all day, and you know I’ll get nothing.”

 

Oliver came up behind her and started rubbing her shoulders. It was past the line of their usual normal, but she allowed it, since it felt so good. “You are Felicity Smoak. If there is a connection out there, you are going to be the one that finds it.”

 

“And how do you know that?”

 

“I know you,” Oliver whispered into her ear. Suddenly, she got an incoming transmission.

 

“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed.

 

Anna ran up to her. “What?”

 

“Kuttler just sent me everything he has on Mr. X. Like, everything.” Anna leaned over to take a look. “It’ll take awhile to go through everything on here. Most of it’s encrypted. Think you can help me out?”

 

Anna pulled up a chair. “Absolutely.” 

 

Oliver peered over their shoulders. “Why would Kuttler send you all of this?”

 

“Maybe he regretted being so unhelpful earlier?” Felicity suggested.

 

“No, it’s more than that,” Anna countered. “If his fatherly instincts were kicking in, he would’ve been more forthcoming earlier. This is something else.”

 

“You’re thinking he couldn’t give us the information earlier?” Oliver made a valid point.

 

“I’m just saying what if he’s being monitored? He’s not at that hotel out of indulgence, but as a prisoner.”

 

“It’s an interesting theory. I just don’t know anyone who could trap my father without his permission.” 

 

“Why else would he send us everything in an encrypted format?” Anna asked.   
  


“Because he just wants me to prove myself, as always.” 

 

“Well, we won’t know until we get through this, so I guess we better get started.”


	15. Chapter 15 (Oliver)

Oliver knew when he wasn’t needed, so he went off to train. It helped to punch out all of his frustrations, about Felicity knowing, about the state of their relationship, about this thing with Kuttler going nowhere, and about Don’s comments regarding Ryder.

 

Soon Ryder was sparring with him. She was good. So good, Oliver admitted defeat. “You’ve gotten better.”

 

“I’ve been training hard for this mission.”

 

“It shows.” Oliver grabbed a towel and started wiping his face off. “Hey, I was wondering something.”

 

Ryder grabbed her own towel. “What’s up?”

 

“Does Don not like me?”

 

She laughed. “Seriously?”

 

“Yeah, we were talking while you were away, and he seemed...distant.”

 

“Don really respects you, that’s not the problem.”

 

“So you’re saying there’s a problem?”

 

She hesitated. “You don’t really like him.” What? He saw nothing wrong with the kid. 

 

Oliver held his hands up again. “I like him just fine.”

 

“No, I don’t mean you-you, I mean-”  _ Oh, right _ .

 

“Me in the future.”

 

“Yeah. You don’t like that I’m dating a meta.” Oliver felt like that came out of left field. He wasn’t prejudiced against metas.

 

“Wait-what? I have no problem with metas. Dinah’s a meta, Barry’s a meta, even Cisco.”

 

“You think that because he’s a meta, it makes him an inferior fighter. Without his speed, he doesn’t have as much training. And you’ve always held that against him.” That made a little more sense.

 

“Oh. But can Don protect you?”

 

“I can protect myself, and Don to boot. You never have to worry about me.” Yet another accusation that he didn’t worry. 

 

“I’m always going to worry about you, now and in the future. But I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

Oliver walked back toward Felicity to check in on her. “Any leads?”

 

“Nothing so far. The stuff I have encrypted is just times and locations that Kuttler met this Mr. X. They had quite a few meetings, actually. But nothing on who Mr. X actually is.”

 

Ryder looked at her tablet.  “Here’s something-it’s a list of Mr. X’s property holdings. I’ll cross-reference it to see if we can come up with a name.”

 

Oliver stared at the screen until a familiar name popped up. “Wait-I recognize that name.” 

 

Ryder must’ve too.  “Rickman Industries. They owned that fertilizer factory. Is it possible this Mr. X owns Rickman Industries?”

 

Ryder started furiously typing, but it didn’t look like she was getting anywhere with Rickman. 

 

Felicity put her head in her hands. “This makes no sense. These data are wrong.” 

 

Don came into the room. “Guys, Team Flash thinks they have something.”

 

“Great. Then let’s get going.” Don sped off with Ryder.

 

Oliver turned to Felicity. “I’m sorry.”

 

She didn’t look up from her typing. “For what?”

 

“For not telling you about my daughter. That was very controlling of me.”

 

She still didn’t look up. “You’re right.”

 

“I need to try to include you more about what’s going on in my life, just like you do with me. Whether we’re together or not, I owe you that as a part of this team.”

 

Felicity finally looked up at him. “Thank you.”

 

After working in silence, Ryder and Don sped back in. Ryder was walking up to them when Dig came out of the elevator with JJ.

 

“Hey, I’m sorry to spring this on you guys, but Lyla got called in on a last-minute assignment, and the babysitter’s busy. I thought I’d bring the guy down here while I helped out.” 

 

Felicity smiled. “Of course. You know little John is always welcome.”

 

Don and Ryder had a silent conversation before Ryder ran out of the room. 

 

“Did I do something wrong?” Dig asked. Oliver had no idea. He had no explanation for Ryder’s behavior. She was always fine around Dig. Did she not like JJ? What could she have against a baby?  _ Because he’s not a baby where she’s from,  _ Oliver reminded himself. 

 

Dig put JJ down to play, and came up to the center console. “What are we looking at here?”

 

“We’re currently trying to trace the identity of a shadowy figure that may be poisoning the water,” Felicity explained. “Except we have almost nothing on him. Kuttler sent us some intel-”

 

“Kuttler’s involved in this?” Dig exclaimed. “This is getting pretty dark, then.” Dig looked up and noticed that JJ had run into the back of the Bunker, and went chasing after him. 

 

Oliver turned to Felicity. “Do you have any idea why she reacted like that?”

 

“No. I can’t imagine JJ hurting anyone in the future, but I don’t know what else it could-I found something!” Felicity shouted. Ryder, Don, and Dig came rushing in with JJ.

 

“What did you get?” Ryder asked.

 

“I think I have the identity of Mr. X. It just doesn’t make much sense.”

 

Ryder sat down next to her. “Tell me everything.”

 

“If you combine what I was able to read on your tablet with what I was able to decrypt, we have the profile of a white man in his late twenties to early thirties, with a lot of money and global reach.”

 

Dig frowned. “That describes a lot of people. Does he have a name?”

 

“Not yet. But that’s as far as Kuttler’s data trail led. However, with some cross-referencing, we should be able to come up with something soon.”

 

“Do you need my help?” Ryder asked.

 

“That would be great. Dig, you can go ahead and head home. We probably won’t have anything until the morning.”

 

“No, JJ and I are staying here tonight. I want to be here first thing.” Oliver didn’t understand why Dig was so determined to help all of a sudden, but he chalked it up to his admiration of Anna.

 

“Don, why don’t you and Oliver get some training in while I work on the program?” Ryder suggested. He knew exactly what she was doing, and he suspected Don did, too, but decided to go along with it.

 

He led Don over to the training pads, and gave him some gloves. “You ever fight?”

 

Don shrugged. “Not really. I’ve done a little hand-to-hand, but nothing major.”

 

“Have I ever trained you?”

 

“Not really.”

 

“I guess that’s about to change.” Oliver did his best to remain patient, but whenever he went at Don, Don always used his speed to evade the move. It wasn’t cheating, but it wasn’t exactly fair fighting either. “Try not using your speed for this set.”

 

Oliver got in close, and was able to knock Don onto his back in seconds. Ryder came up to check on him. “How’s it going?” 

 

Oliver jumped off of Don. “Don could use a little more practice with his hand-to-hand and close quarters.”

 

“I wasn’t expecting you to fight dirty,” Don whined.

 

“Oh, you’re expecting a fair fight from the people we could be going up against?”

 

“No, I was planning on using my speed on anyone we could be going up against.”

 

“And if they have a meta dampener like they did back at the plant? Then what?”

 

“Then I have Ryder.” That was no plan. The cocky fellow actually turned to Ryder and smiled. 

 

“And if Ryder’s hurt?” Don met him with silence. “We’re going to continue this training until you can deflect a roundhouse kick effectively.” Oliver turned to face Don as Ryder walked away. If he wasn’t going to do an effective job of protecting her, then he was going to make darn sure her boyfriend would.


	16. Chapter 16 (Felicity)

Felicity didn’t really have time for Oliver trying to show off in front of his daughter’s boyfriend. She had real work to do, namely, finding an identity for Mr. X. Everywhere she looked, it was like she was hitting a dead end. She wondered if Anna’s program was having any better luck. She picked up Anna’s tablet, and saw it was pulled up to a picture. Dismissing it as Anna’s screensaver, she almost swiped right past it, until she saw-

 

Herself.

 

It was a picture of her, Oliver, Anna, Anna’s brother, and another man. They were all beaming at the camera like it was the best day of their lives. Anna’s brother was in Anna’s lap, and Felicity’s hand was on Anna’s brother’s leg...her hand that was spotting her old engagement ring. 

 

Felicity had to sit down. She couldn’t breath. She couldn’t even think. She was a genius, of course, so it didn’t take her very long to put the giant pieces together. In the future, she was married. Acting motherly toward the siblings. Wearing Oliver’s family ring. There was only one conclusion to make. It didn’t seem like it was possible, but there it was.

 

Felicity looked up as Anna walked up to her. 

 

“Why are you going through my stuff?” she screamed, ripping her tablet away from Felicity and shutting it off.

 

“Anna, what is that photo?” Felicity was almost afraid to ask, afraid to have her suspicions confirmed. If it wasn’t true...but what if it was?

 

“It’s a photo from the future. One you’re not meant to see. Let’s get back to coding.”

 

“How am I supposed to get back to work after I know about...that?” How was she supposed to return to her life after she knew about it? “Anna, is that what I think it is?”

 

“That depends on what you’re thinking. If you’re thinking it’s something of no consequence, then good for you, you got it in one.” Anna turned away from her, but Felicity wasn’t going to let this go. Not that she ever let anything go but this, oh, this she was never going to let go as long as she lived.

 

“Anna, look at me.” Anna turned to look her in the eyes, on the verge of tears herself. “Are we a family?”

 

Anna nodded. Felicity didn’t know what to say or what to do. She had a daughter. Oliver’s daughter was her daughter. Anna was her daughter. Her daughter was standing right in front of her. This was like their first official meeting and Felicity didn’t know what to do. Oliver was so much better in these types of situations... _ Oliver _ .

 

“Does Oliver know?” 

 

“No! And you can’t tell him!” Now she was starting to see the burden that Oliver was carrying in terms of future children.

 

“Because it could change the future?”

 

“Exactly.” 

 

Felicity didn’t understand, not fully. “But haven’t you already changed the future by coming back here?”

 

“Yes, but that was to erase the Event, not erase myself. I’m not here to cause too much of a paradox.”

 

“Okay.” She and Oliver had the same daughter. That meant... “So Oliver and I-we’re together, like, in the future?” 

 

“Yeah, you guys are together in the future.”

 

“And we have kids.” Kids. The unknown man in the photo. Oliver’s kids. William.  “William and you, and your brother?”

 

“That’s right.” 

 

“And we’re happy?” 

 

“We’ve had some great times.” There was something wistful in Anna’s voice.

 

“Is that why you’ve always been so distant from me? Because you didn’t want to give anything away?”

 

“Exactly.” Well, that certainly explained things. Felicity could forgive that. And if Felicity raised Anna....

 

“And I’m the one who taught you to code?”

 

“As if there were ever any doubt.”  _ Darn right _ .  “Look, just don’t tell anyone, alright? I mean, Don knows, of course, but no one else.”

 

“Got it.” Felicity was good at keeping secrets, but not particularly skilled at keeping them from Oliver. And one this big? That was going to take some work. But if it meant Felicity got her happy ending, she was fine with it. “Okay, I just got your half of the program, and I’ll start running it.” 

 

Felicity was barely able to run the program with all the thoughts racing through her head. When did she and Oliver officially get back together? When did they get married? When was Anna born? Did William integrate well into the family? When did he join in? Was she a good mother? Was Oliver a good father? Of course he was, he was Oliver, he was amazing at everything. And he had raised a vigilante-

 

_ Wait _ . Felicity let her daughter do this? It was hard enough watching Oliver do it, and she knew what he had been through for five years to train him to do so. How could she watch her daughter do this? The way Felicity was beginning to feel about Anna...it eclipsed the way she had felt about anyone ever. The thought of Anna getting in harm’s way for any reason? Not okay. No wonder Oliver had said what he said earlier, about not wanting Anna to be a vigilante. But it was too late. She already was. 

 

Or was she? She was from the future, a future that could change. And Felicity could change it.


	17. Chapter 17 (Oliver)

Oliver woke up in the Bunker. Ryder was shaking him awake. He found himself smiling for no particular reason, other than his daughter was shaking him awake. Was she having a nightmare? Did she need something?

 

“What is it?” he whispered.

 

“Briefing in ten.” Right. A briefing. That was all Ryder seemed to need him for-vigilante business. Never fatherly business.

 

After seeing that Dig was awake, Oliver threw on a shirt and rolled into the Bunker. Ryder was already all set up, like she was giving an official presentation. 

 

“Lex Luthor is the son of billionaire Lionel Luthor, CEO of LuthorCorp. It’s an industrial conglomerate in Metropolis focusing on much of what Queen Consolidated used to. Lex is poised to take over the company once his father retires, although it’s unclear when that will happen. Lex is currently Executive Vice President himself, overseeing their branches outside of Metropolis.” Oliver probably should’ve known all this, if he had ever paid attention to the dealings at Queen Consolidated when he was younger.

 

“So he’s basically me?” he asked.

 

“Well, I found no evidence that he’s a vigilante in addition to being a billionaire jet-setter, so not quite. He also appears to have a good head for business. Top of his class at Harvard Business, MBA from the same. He has a ton of accolades, and we’re not just talking employee of the month.” So he was nothing like Oliver, then. 

 

“And you’ve never met this guy before?” Felicity’s question brought back a faint memory. 

 

“Before the island, I didn’t really do anything related to QC, and even when I was CEO, I think I once scheduled a meeting with him but had to cancel for Arrow stuff.” The Luthors were well-known, but didn’t really have a reason to meet with the new CEO of Queen Consolidated. They took their business elsewhere.

 

“So you’re saying the guy’s got a sterling reputation and we’re just going to go after him?” Dig had a point. Going after Luthor was going to require stealth of the highest level.

 

“I’m working on tracing all of his financial activity, see if I can connect anything to Kuttler. I’m also looking into what LuthorCorp Applied Sciences was researching, see if anything comes close to matching the chemical that STAR Labs came up with. But right now, I’ve got nothing,” Felicity said.

 

“Keep looking,” Ryder said. “Lex Luthor is never as clean as he seems to be.”

 

“And what is it you know about him?” Oliver asked.

 

“He’s a big player in the future. CEO of LexCorp, will do anything to turn a profit, impossible to catch.” She pulled out her tablet and handed it off to Felicity. “This is what I have on him. Feel free to take a look if you think it might help, but all it will do is make you despise the guy more.”

 

“Felicity, while you work here, Don and I are going to go check on Team Flash, see if they’ve got anything on that chemical. I’ll just leave my tablet here,” Ryder said, as she and Don walked off.”

  
  


“Thank you.”

 

Oliver walked up to Felicity. “So where are you going to start?”

 

“I’m going to cross-reference Luthor’s holdings now and in the future. See if anything matches, especially anything related to applied sciences. That will be our first clue to them developing the poison.”

 

“What can we do to help?” Dig asked.

 

“Look over these holdings and see if anything catches your eye.” A long list of companies appeared on the back monitor, and Dig and Oliver settled in to look them over. Nothing was standing out to Oliver, but he didn’t really know too much about the Luthors. Felicity was basically CEO of QC when he had been there, anyway.

 

After a few minutes, he heard some yelling coming from the back of the Bunker. “But I guess I don’t live up to the mighty speedsters!” Oliver turned toward Felicity and they exchanged glances. Sounded like Ryder was having a major fight with her boyfriend. 

 

“You’re right! You’re not a speedster! And you can’t stop me from going into the Speed Force to save my sister!” Don yelled. Oliver didn’t understand what the boy was saying. He didn’t really know much about the Speed Force, but he didn’t think it was possible to go inside of it.

 

Ryder walked back in with her head down. Oliver turned back to his screen, like he hadn’t been paying attention to all of the clearly audible yelling. 

 

“I guess I’m not going to STAR Labs.”

 

“Is he okay?” Felicity asked.   
  


“Yeah, he just needs to blow off some steam. Hopefully the Speed Force will knock some sense into him.”

 

“What does he mean, he’s going  _ into _ the Speed Force?” Oliver asked.

 

“The Speed Force is sometimes a place or a person as much as it is a cosmic force. And right now, his sister is trapped there, so he’s planning a rescue mission. It’ll fail, and then he’ll come right back here.” Ryder sounded confident in his failure. Why was she dating someone she so clearly didn’t believe in?

 

Dig raised his eyebrows. “You sound pretty certain of that. Don’t believe in your beau?”

 

“Of course I believe in him. But I also believe that if the entity that gave him his powers wants to stop him from doing something, it’s capable of doing that.” She probably had a point. What did Oliver know about the cosmic forces of the universe anyway? “I can help you look through Luthor’s records. I know a little bit of what I’m looking for. Anything that can connect him to LP could help.”


	18. Chapter 18 (Felicity)

Their mission was going nowhere. Felicity was good at finding things that didn’t want to be found, but this was more than looking for a needle in a haystack. This was looking for a drop of oil in the ocean. It was slippery and evasive. The four of them were working hard, but it was becoming more and more evident they were getting nowhere. Dig went to get some food, and Anna said she had to step out for a moment. That left Oliver and Felicity alone. Unable to bear the silence, Felicity decided it was now or never on a long overdue discussion.

 

Felicity turned in her chair to face Oliver’s back. “Hey, Oliver, can we talk?”

 

He spun around to face her as well. “Yeah, of course. What’s up?”

 

“Well, lately I’ve been giving some thought to-I mean, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but-well, what if you and I, I mean we-”

 

He promptly cut off her babble in the way that only he could. “Fe-li-ci-ty.”

 

“Right. I want to talk about us.”

 

Oliver’s eyebrows skyrocketed. “Oh.”

 

“I know with Anna here it’s weird, but-”

 

“I mean, she’s not here right now, so we can talk.” Not what she meant.

 

“No, I mean with Anna’s existence in general, it’s weird. She’s your daughter. That’s huge.”

 

“Well, it’s not like she’s my first kid. I already have William, so this isn’t that different.”

 

“I think it is. I know you. You’ve given yourself a duty now.”

 

“And what duty is that?”

 

“You want to make sure Anna is born. You want to find her mother.” He just didn't know he was looking for her.

 

“Yeah, of course I do. I can’t imagine a world where Ryder-” Who now?

 

“Ryder?”

 

“That’s Anna’s real name.”

 

“Oh. Good name.” It was actually on her short list. Not that she had been actively keeping a list, just, if she were, she would put that name on it.

 

“I want Ryder in my world. And I’ve been trying to figure out who her mother is, but...I don’t know. For a while I thought it might be Laurel-”  _ Hold up. _

 

“Laurel- why?”

 

“It’s her middle name.” Oh. That made sense. Honoring Laurel in that way. “But then Laurel died, and I thought maybe it was just someone I hadn’t met yet, someone new.” Why hadn’t he thought it was her? After everything they’d been through, after how close they’d been, why hadn’t he thought of her first?

 

“Not me?” Oliver had a pained look on his face, but his eyes were reflecting something close to hope. Why couldn’t he see the simple truth? Why couldn’t he see that-

 

“Find anything yet?” And there was Anna. Well, Ryder. Felicity then realized how close she and Oliver were. She didn’t even remember getting up, but here she was, standing just a hair’s breadth away from him. 

 

“Not yet.” Felicity took a step away from Oliver. Just one, but it felt like they were putting a lifetime of distance between them again. The moment was over. “LuthorCorp has extensive holdings, and going through them all is a laborious process.”

 

“Okay, keep it up, you never know-” Just then, Don sped in, looking disappointed. “Hey, champ, did you get her?”

 

“Don’t ‘champ’ me.” He stormed off, Ryder following in his wake. 

 

Felicity turned to Oliver. “Do we have any idea what that’s about?”

 

Oliver shrugged. “Couples fight. Especially when it’s most inconvenient.” He looked at her, like he was asking her to understand something. And Felicity did. Their fights always seemed to occur when it was worst for the mission. And the fight about William, and Oliver not trusting her? It had split up their team had the worst possible time. 

 

“Yeah. That I get,” Felicity said. Oliver smiled at her. Their moment might have been over for now, but they’d find their way back. Felicity was sure of that.

 

She turned back to her work, determined to find something that could link Luthor and the chemical. The sooner that work was done, the sooner she and Oliver could really have that talk. Felicity pulled up the chemical structure and tried again searching Luthor’s databases for it. Oliver came up behind her and sighed.

 

“What is it?” she asked.

 

“If I had known I would need to know chemistry to be a vigilante, I would’ve studied harder in school.”

 

“Chemistry wasn’t your subject?”

 

“I think it’s fair to say that nothing was my subject.”

 

“I always liked chemistry. I mean, not as much as computers, but there was something similar about building the perfect code and constructing the perfect chemical.”

 

“It was always too confusing for me. How you could name the exact same chemical like 30 different things based on your perspective.” Oliver wasn’t wrong. Organic chemicals could have a ton of different names, even under the same naming convention-

 

“Oliver! You’re a genius!” Felicity started typing frantically into the computer.

 

Oliver had to chuckle. “That may have been the first time somebody’s called me that.”

 

“No, I mean-chemicals being called different names. I assumed what this chemical would be called based on its design, but if you look at it from a different angle, you could actually name the carbon chains differently, creating a whole different chemical name!”

 

Ryder came down into the Bunker with Don, and Dig on their heels. It looked like things were working out for them, too. Felicity turned from her work just long to ask, “Did you guys work it out?”

 

“Yeah, we’re good,” Don said.

 

“I’m sorry about your sister. But you two will get her. You always do.” 

 

“Right. Got anything?”

 

Felicity was excited. “Actually, I do. Luthor Biomedical has been researching this exact chemical for years. It’s proprietary, they own it. They’re in the process of lobbying the government to put the chemical in all public water supplies, like we do fluorine.”

 

“Right. But wouldn’t the government run a study on how it affects the human body and see that it’s poison?”

 

“LuthorCorp has its own studies. They’re pretty air tight in the benefits of the chemical.”

 

“Then they’ve never done a longitudinal study. Anyone with that chemical in their system is just waiting for death.”

 

“Is the government falling for it?” Don asking the important questions.

 

“The indication is the FDA and FEMA are going to approve it within the next decade.”

 

Ryder jumped in. “That may be, but we did extensive research on what chemicals the government was putting in the water supply. There was nothing even remotely resembling this chemical, and they had made no new additions in the last twenty years.”

 

Oliver sighed. “Then maybe they weren’t getting it in through official channels. Maybe they were just dumping it in.”

 

“That would be easy enough for Star and Central City, but not for the whole country.”

 

“This is nationwide?” asked Dig. Everything Ryder had said before had indicated that it was a local problem, that it was just Star and Central City being affected.

 

“Um, yeah. Luthor has to be getting this into the water supply by more than just dumping it. It has to be something more understated. We’ll keep looking. In the meantime, Dig and Oliver, could I have you positioned at the water station the Bratva hit first? If they go back there, I want to know. I’ll go check on Team Flash to see if they have an update on the neutralization compound.”

 

Ryder and Don sped off, leaving Felicity with Oliver and Dig. “You guys going to suit up?”

 

“Yeah, might as well.” Dig turned to go get his gear, but Oliver hesitated.

 

“What is it?” Felicity asked.

 

“So this thing is nation-wide.”

 

“Yeah, that’s how it seems now.”

 

“Do you think that she’s keeping the magnitude of it from us? How big is this thing?”

 

“It sounds like it’s massive.”

 

“Are we up for this?”

 

“We were up for a global alien invasion, surely we can handle Lex Luthor poisoning us all.”

 

“Right.” But Oliver didn’t seem so sure. And now Felicity wasn’t, either.


	19. Chapter 19 (Oliver)

The drive to Central City wasn’t so much long as it was boring. There really wasn’t much between the two cities, creating a drive that seemed longer than it was. Dig volunteered to drive, and Oliver let him. It gave him more time to be alone with his thoughts. Ryder was somehow in charge of a mission to save the country from being poisoned, and the future version of him had let it happen. Why hadn’t he insisted on coming along? Ryder said there was a potential of paradoxes, but if everyone was in danger, why wouldn’t he come? Was there really no one that could come with Ryder besides her boyfriend, who couldn't even fight? Why hadn’t Barry come along? He was a time travel pro. Or why hadn’t they just travelled in on the Legends’ ship? That would seem much easier.

 

“A penny for your thoughts?” Dig broke Oliver out of his trance.

 

“Just thinking about why Anna came in practically alone.”

 

“She’s not alone; she has her speedster.”

 

“Yeah, but out of everyone in the future, no one else could come along? The world is full of time-travelling superheroes now, and yet she’s the one put in charge?”

 

“I don’t know, man, she seems like she has everything handled. She’s a born leader.” Dig didn’t have to say that again. She had spunk, that was for certain. 

 

“I just...I worry.”

 

“Makes sense. Millions of lives are in the balance.” And even though that was true, and Oliver knew it, that wasn’t the thing he found himself worrying about. Millions of lives, and he didn't care. He just wanted to make sure Ryder was alright. Ryder, and Tommy, and William. He barely knew any of them, and they had still managed to become his whole world since he found out about them. Them, and….well he couldn't think about her now. After this business with Ryder was handled, though, they would finally have time to figure things out. 

 

They got to Central and broke into the water treatment facility. There really wasn’t much in the way of security anyway. Once they were settled, Ryder called in.

 

“Find anything yet?”

 

“Negative. The place is quiet. Right now, we’re just avoiding the security that’s already here.”

 

“Yeah, like that security did any good last time. Alright, just keep your head on a swivel.”

 

“Copy.” 

 

Dig shook his head. “What?” Oliver asked.

 

“She really has learned a lot from you.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“She even talks like you, man.” Well, that would make sense, considering. Not like Dig knew anything about that.

 

“I trained her well.”

 

“That you did.”

 

Oliver and Dig settled back, ready for the long day ahead of them.


	20. Chapter 20 (Felicity)

They really were getting nowhere. Ryder was searching through paper after paper, and Felicity was running out of algorithms to run. Ryder slammed her hands down on the desk. “This is pointless. We’re running out of time. We only have a day and a half left.”

 

Felicity understood Ryder’s frustration, but she couldn’t give up hope. “We’ve come this far by working the evidence. We’ll get there, hon, just be patient.”

 

Ryder turned to look at Felicity. “What did you just say?”

 

“We’ll get there.”

 

“No, what did you call me?”

 

Felicity thought back to what she had said.  _ Hon _ . Did that make Ryder uncomfortable? Was it too presuming of her? “Oh. Sorry.”

 

“Don’t apologize. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t just hallucinating.”

 

Felicity hesitated before she decided that was no point holding anything back from her new daughter. “It’s just that ever since I...found out, I just want to hold you close and never let you go. I know I’m not making any sense-”

 

“No, it’s all good.”

 

“Yeah, just I didn’t expect the motherly instinct to come on this strong. Is that normal?”

 

“Beats me. I’m nineteen.”

 

“Right. I guess I meant, am I usually like this?”

 

“Yeah, pretty much.”

 

“Huh.” Felicity turned back to her computer and pondered. She had never really thought too much about having kids. She knew in the back of her mind that she wanted them, but she didn’t want to put the cart before the horse. First, find a guy, then get hitched, then kids. She had already been down that road, and Oliver and she had never really talked about kids. And now, it didn’t look like they would have to. Once the truth was out there, the decision would have been made for them. 

 

Another hour later, and they still had nothing. Ryder threw her hands up in the air. “That’s it. I’m done. I’m just going to march down to Luthor’s office and see what he’s up to. He appreciates people being up-front anyway.”

 

“Okay, but which Luthor? Lionel or Lex?” Don asked.

 

“Lex. We know what we’re dealing with there. And playing the long game makes sense.”

 

Felicity turned toward Ryder. “You’re just going to confront a madman and demand that he, what? Give you his secret formula?”

 

“I can be pretty persuasive when I need to be.”

 

Felicity shook her head. She used her best mad voice. “No. I know what that’s code for, and I won’t allow it.”

 

“Sorry, you don’t tell me what to do. I came into this mission willing to do whatever it takes, and that’s what I’m going to do. Come on, Don.” She grabbed her tablet.

 

Felicity obviously couldn’t stop them. They would just speed away if she tried. Still, she wanted to. She didn’t like the decision Ryder was making. And she felt like she was responsible for trying to change her mind about it. Who was she kidding? She could barely change Oliver’s mind, and they had years of history between them. How could she go about convincing a perfect stranger of the right thing to do?

 

Only Ryder wasn’t a stranger, not really. Ryder had known her for years. Apparently she wasn’t used to listening to what Felicity said, though. She walked away without a second thought. And that hurt. Is that what Ryder thought of Felicity in the future? That she wasn’t to be listened to?

 

Felicity knew what she wanted. She wanted to talk it out with Oliver. But she really couldn’t. Not without majorly messing with the future. Still, hearing Oliver’s voice would make her feel better. She opened a private line with him, one that Dig wouldn't be able to hear. 

 

“Oliver?”

 

“What’s up?”

 

“Ryder went to go confront Luthor.”

 

“She did  _ what _ ?” Apparently Oliver wasn’t happy about this, either.

 

“I told her not to, but she didn’t listen to me.”

 

Oliver laughed humorlessly. “She doesn’t listen to me, and I’m her father, so I don’t know why we think she’ll listen to you.”  _ Because I’m her mother _ . “Don’t take it personally, alright. Is there anything you can do from your side to help her?”

 

“Not really. I have no doubts she’ll be able to break into LuthorCorp without a problem. It’s just what stupid thing she’ll say when she gets there that I worry about.”

 

“She’s not the most cautious of time travellers, I’ll give her that. But we have to trust her. Plus, Don seems to be a calming influence on her.”

 

“That’s true. They are pretty good for each other.”

 

“Yeah, when they’re not fighting or keeping secrets from each other, they work well.” Now Felicity didn’t know who they were talking about: Ryder and Don, or Oliver and Felicity.

 

“Yeah. But he’s always sincere when he apologizes for his mistakes, so she’s quick to forgive him.”

 

“And he loves that about her.” Felicity felt her heart melt. No, they weren’t talking about Don anymore. “There’s some movement here, I gotta go.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“But we’ll talk when I get back?”

 

“Yeah.” 

 

Don and Ryder whooshed back into the Bunker. Don went to go lie down, leaving just Ryder.

 

“How did it go with Luthor?” Felicity asked.

 

“Not great. He denied knowing anything.”

 

“And you believe him?”

 

“I kind of do. He seemed sincere. And he’s usually pretty up-front with me.” Her tablet started beeping. She swiped it a few times. “Hello?”

 

“Hey, Anna, this is Iris. I got some information on water additives.”

 

“Oh, great! What do you got for me?”

 

“There are several organizations that have been lobbying the government to add substances to the public drinking water. The most recent is LuthorCorp, and-”

 

“Could you tell me more about LuthorCorp’s efforts?”

 

“Sure. They have a proprietary vitamin mix that they think could save lives in areas where fresh food is hard to come by.”

 

“Is anyone helping them out?”

 

“There are a ton of groups that have publicly supported them: Metron Pharmaceuticals, Hardwick Enterprises, Wickman Industries, NuCorp, I mean the list goes on.” Ryder starting rifling through papers, and Felicity starting looking up those companies.

 

“Those are all LuthorCorp subsidiaries, or groups that Luthor has the majority stake,” Ryder realized.

 

“That’s weird. None of that came up when I was researching them.”

 

“I’ll look into it. Was there anyone going against LuthorCorp’s efforts?”

 

“Only one group spoke out against them: Mercury Labs. They thought more testing was necessary.”

 

“Okay. Thanks, Iris.”

 

“Sure. Let me know if you need anything else.”

 

“I will.” Ryder hung up.

 

“Hey, Mom?” Did she just...did Ryder just call her Mom? So she did accept her! “What?”

 

“That’s the first time you’ve called me Mom.” 

 

“We’re not exactly keeping secrets anymore, so I figured it would be fine.” More than fine. “It doesn’t freak you out, does it?”  _ Exactly the opposite _ .

 

“No, it’s actually pretty amazing.” Felicity hesitated, but figured if the time for secrets was over, then it was over. “Am I going to be a good mom?”

 

“Of course you will!”

 

Felicity didn't know why, but a certain story came to mind. “You know there was a time when Oliver and I considered getting a dog, but then decided it was too much to handle on top of Team Arrow responsibilities.”

 

“You never told me that.”

 

“I can’t imagine that we’re going to have a kid. Our lives are far from normal.” And she could say that again.

 

“Well, there’s an argument that I’m not exactly the most normal person, either. It’s going to be fine, Mom.” Good to know. “Anyway, what have you found on Luthor?”

 

“Lex and Lionel are both clean. I don’t know what else to tell you. They haven’t so much as misplaced a tax filing. Either they’re innocent or the most dastardly minds on the planet.”

 

Oliver’s voice broke in over the comms. “Overwatch, do you copy?”   
  


“I copy, Green Arrow.”

 

“There are some people entering the water treatment plant. They look like maintenance workers, but I can’t be sure.”

 

Ryder took over. “Go investigate. Keep a low profile, but don’t let them touch the water.”

 

“Copy.”

 

A few minutes later, Oliver came back on the comms. “I don’t think these guys are maintenance workers. I’m going in.” A few grunts and punches, then Dig shouting, then static over the comms. 

 

Felicity was worried. “Green Arrow? Spartan?” Nothing. “Dig? Oliver? Answer me!”

 

Silence. 

 

“You have to go get them,” Felicity ordered Ryder.

 

“I can’t get to Central in enough time. You’re going to have to have Team Flash go in.”

 

Felicity typed a few commands into her keyboard. “It’s Felicity. Do you copy?”

 

“We copy,” Joe responded.

 

“Oliver and Dig are in trouble at the Eastern Central City water treatment plant. We need Barry to go check it out.”

 

“I thought you needed Barry to work on the chemical.”

 

“Please, hurry!”

 

A few moments later, Joe responded, “Barry is on his way.” Felicity breathed a sigh of relief. There was no one better at catching criminals than Barry Allen.

 

“I’m patching myself into Barry’s comms. I need to know Oliver’s okay.”

 

“I’m sure he’s fine.” Ryder couldn’t be sure of that.

 

“Flash, do you copy? This is Overwatch.”

 

“I copy. There’s no one here. The only sign of them is the van parked out back, but there’s no one in it. Can you pull up their suit’s GPSs?”

 

Felicity typed in a few commands, but nothing was coming up. “Both Dig’s and Oliver’s suit’s trackers are offline. I have no way of finding them.”

 

Without a word Ryder suited up, and left. Felicity had no honest idea of where she was going, but decided to continue her own research. 

 

“Flash, do you copy?”

 

“Yeah, Felicity.”

 

“What can you tell me about where they went?”

 

“Not much. There’s some footprints, but it’s kind of a big mess. It could’ve been caused by maintenance workers trudging through here.”

 

“You’re saying there’s no evidence of a struggle? I’m telling you what I heard, and it was signs of a struggle.”

 

“Felicity, there’s nothing to prove they were even here.”

 

“They were there. Now they’re not. Someone must’ve taken them.”

 

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Felicity. I couldn’t even find retreating tire tracks outside.”

 

“Maybe they came in on foot.”

 

“And went out on foot? Even less likely.”

 

“I’ll keep searching on my end. You get back to STAR Labs. I know what you have to do there is important.” Felicity turned to Ryder, who she had just noticed had come back. “And where have you been?”

 

“I went to look for Kuttler. He’s relocated. So that’s a dead end.”

 

“Everything I do is a dead end.”

 

“Dad and Dig can take care of themselves. If their captors want to make themselves known, they will. Keep digging on Luthor.”

 

“I don’t know what else I’m going to find.”

 

“There has to be something.” 

 

Don walked in. “Hey.”

 

“Oh, hey. How are you feeling?”

 

“Like I could go for a run. I’m running low on energy bars, though.”

 

“I think I have some more, so don’t worry.”

 

“Cool.”

 

“Speaking of going for a run, how do you feel about heading over to Mercury Labs?”

 

“Sounds good.”

 

“Mom, could you have Mr. Allen call ahead for us? I’m sure Dr. McGee would see us on late notice if he put in a good word.”

 

“Can do.”

 

Ryder and Don flashed out, and Felicity called Barry again. “Hey, Barry?”

 

“Yeah, Felicity?”

 

“Could you call Dr. McGee over at Mercury Labs and let her know that I’m sending over two young scientists who need to talk to her, pronto?”

 

“Sure. We’re still on good terms over there. She’ll do it.”

 

“Thanks.” Felicity discontinued the call and went back to her research. Not like it was getting her anywhere. Finally, Ryder and Don came back, hopefully with another lead.

 

“What if it’s Lionel, and not Lex?” Ryder certainly came in strong.

 

“What?” Felicity asked.

 

“I’m saying that what if I confronted the wrong Luthor? What if evil runs in the family?”

 

“Everything in Kuttler’s data suggests that it’s Lex, not Lionel.”

 

“What if Kuttler’s wrong?”

 

“His data made sense.”

 

“And I’m not making sense now? How would Lex go above his father’s head to bring this to light? It would need Lionel’s approval. What if it got Lionel’s approval because it was Lionel’s idea?”

 

Don supported Ryder. “It makes sense. Lex knew nothing about it, but we know it’s still coming from LuthorCorp.”

 

“So, what, you’re going to march into Lionel’s office and yell at him, too?”

 

“No, I’m not doing anything until I understand the distribution strategy. I’m going in with all the facts. Starting with asking him where my father is.”

 

“Good idea. I need a break, though. I’m going for a walk, in the actual daylight.”

 

Don started walking out of the room. “And I’m grabbing something to eat.”

 

Felicity started closing out of her browsers, while Ryder waited for Don, who walked in with the blankest expression on his face. 

 

“Ryder, what’s this?” He held up a handheld device.

 

“It’s nothing.”

 

“Ryder, what. Is. This?”

 

This was clearly not going a place that Felicity wanted to see. “I’m going to go ahead and head out now,” Felicity said, backing away and heading up the elevator. She’d let the two lovebirds figure it out. Hopefully they’d be done by the time she took a stroll around the block. It was good for her nerves, anyway, to walk instead of thinking about Oliver, and how he could be chained up who knows where, while armed men hurt him, and-

 

“Oliver, where are you?” Felicity asked the sky. But she didn’t get an answer.


	21. Chapter 21 (Oliver)

It wasn’t a fair fight. Oliver and Dig knew that. There were twenty armed men waiting for them, and the fight was quickly over. Almost like someone had studied tapes of his fighting style. As if such a thing were possible. 

 

Oliver was hog-tied and thrown into the back of a van with Dig before the doors were slammed shut. At least they hadn’t knocked him out. Then he heard the doors being opened again, and the butt of a gun came up to his head.  _ Here we go _ .

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------

 

Oliver woke up tied to a chair. His head hurt, but that was the least of his problems. His hood and mask were off, meaning his captors knew who he was. But maybe they had already known. He heard soft grunts coming from his left. He turned to see Dig in the same situation he was in.

 

“You alright?” he asked his friend.

 

“Been worse.” They’d take what they could get, he guessed. “Any chance you can break yourself out of your restraints?”

 

Oliver tried, but he wasn’t zip-cuffed. He was tied with rope, which was a whole different situation. “Not really.”

 

“Great.”

 

“Well, I guess we’re stuck here until-”

 

“Until your daughter comes to rescue us?” Oliver didn’t really even have time to be surprised anymore. “Yeah, Oliver, I know.”

 

Oliver sighed. “How long?”

 

“Since the day that I met her.”

 

“Really?” He had put it together before Oliver?

 

“The girl couldn’t be more like you if you tried. And don’t give me that excuse that you trained her. It’s more than just her fighting. It’s the way she talked, her stubbornness, her hacking skills-”

 

“Wait, how did her hacking skills come into play here?”

 

“Oh, come on, Oliver, you can’t be that dense.” Oliver really had no idea what Dig was talking about. Oliver knew almost nothing about computers. There’s no way Ryder had picked that up from him. “Anna might not have gotten her hacking from you, but there’s someone she easily could’ve gotten them from instead.”

 

Oliver turned toward Dig, who raised his eyebrows as if this whole thing were obvious. “Felicity.”

 

_ No. There was no way. Ryder couldn’t be Felicity’s kid, because that would mean- _

 

“You’re saying that Felicity and I get together in the future? That’s insane.”

 

“Is it, Oliver? You haven’t stopped loving her for years. And you finally turned the page on your relationship the other day, so…”

 

“So I’m going to have kids with her?” As much as it warmed Oliver’s heart, and it truely did, it just seemed too good to be true. He and Felicity, together. With kids. Oliver had seen the picture years ago of him having a happy family. He had always wished that the person cropped out of that picture had been Felicity, but had never admitted it to himself, even when he was with her. Someone like him shouldn’t be allowed that much happiness, in any timeline. 

 

“Tell me you’re not still in love with her.”

 

“How could I not be, Dig?”

 

“Then do what I’ve been saying for years. Be with her, man.”

 

“That’s easy to say while we’re trapped...wherever we are.”

 

“Oh, come on, you’re going to let a little thing like being kidnapped keep you from your future?” Dig had a point. This was hardly out of the ordinary. And it wasn’t going to keep him from his family. No more excuses. As soon as he got out of here, he was going to go to Felicity and tell her the truth. No more secrets, no more lies. Screw the timeline, she was his. 


	22. Chapter 22 (Felicity)

Felicity came back from her walk, with a renewed focus on finding Oliver. She sat down to start typing, when she heard sniveling coming from underneath the desk. She crawled under there, and found Ryder sobbing. She gave her a big hug, and started stroking her hair, like she thought a mother should.

 

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”    
  


“I think we broke up,” Ryder whispered.

 

“Oh, sweetie.” Felicity waited for Ryder to offer some sort of explanation, anything but the heaving tears. Eventually, the tears slowed and Felicity felt able to ask what happened.

 

“It doesn’t matter.” Ryder stood up. “We have a criminal to stop.”

 

Felicity stood up as well. “You’re not going to be of any use if you keep bottling up what’s going on. If you get it out, you’ll be more effective going forward. I’ve learned that from Oliver.”

 

“Ha. Like Dad’s the poster child for expressing emotion.” Good point.

 

“Well, I learned what  _ not _ to do from him. Just talk to me, Ryder.”

 

“I was keeping a big secret from Don.”

 

“The location of his sister?”

 

“No. Something bigger. Pretty much the biggest thing you can keep from someone.”  _ Probably wasn’t a secret child _ .  _ No _ , Felicity chided herself,  _ she was over that _ .

 

“And he didn’t take it very well?”

 

“You couldn’t hear us shouting a block away? He made it pretty clear that we’re done.”

 

“And how does that make you feel?”

 

“How do you  _ think _ that makes me feel? I’m devastated, Mom. But I still have the same cause, that hasn’t changed.”

 

“Do you think it’s changed for Don?”

 

“No, he understands the mission. He probably just went to STAR Labs. I trust him.”

 

“If you trusted him, why did you keep this supposedly big secret from him?” 

 

“Because it wasn’t relevant to the mission.” She sighed. “Since the Event, I’ve had to streamline my life. Ignore anything besides the mission. I’ve compartmentalized who knows what in my life, to keep things simple.” That sounded exactly like Oliver.

 

“That doesn’t sound simple. It sounds like a lot of work.”

 

“You just don’t understand. You haven’t lived in the post-Event world.”

 

“Maybe the version of me hasn’t, but there’s a version of me that has. What do I, I mean me in the future, think about your secrets?”

 

“You don’t know my secrets in the future.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“No one does. That’s why they’re secrets.”

 

“I just think it doesn’t do anyone any good to keep secrets from the people they love. Even if it’s hard. Especially if it’s hard.”

 

“Does this conclude our emotion sharing time?” Ryder didn’t have to be so harsh about it. “I want to check CCTV feeds from the surrounding areas of the water treatment plant.”

 

Felicity gestured to the computers. “Yeah, go ahead.”

 

CCTV was dead in the surrounding area, just like Felicity suspected it would be. Suddenly, Ryder spun around with a look of delight on her face.

 

“Mom, pull up everything you have on NuCorp.”

 

“The energy company?”

 

“Yeah.” Ryder started rifling through the papers on patents that LuthorCorp had. “And get me all of NuCorp’s recent patents.”

 

Felicity got Ryder what she wanted, and Ryder made quick work of rifling through the papers.

 

“Here it is! This invention would allow LP to be widespread.”

 

Felicity grabbed the paper from her. “This patent was only filed this year. It could take years before the device is on the market.”

 

“Well, NuCorp has years. And once the chemical was in the public drinking supply, it wouldn’t be filtered out. The chemical is considered non-hazardous. It would keep be cycled in, until everyone had it in them.”

 

“But then why even try dumping it into the water supply?”

 

“As a test run. See what happens, then mass market it with a higher dosage beyond Star and Central City.”

 

“Okay, so we need to confront NuCorp.”

 

“No, we need to confront Lionel Luthor.”

 

“LuthorCorp isn’t related to NuCorp.”

 

“According to Mrs. West-Allen,” Okay, so Iris did marry Barry. Good to know.  “They’re a company that lobbied the government for LuthorCorp’s chemical enhancements. They are a LuthorCorp subsidy, but somehow Luthor’s keeping that from being public knowledge. Probably so if this NuCorp thing goes south, he’s far away from the blame.”

 

“So you’re saying LuthorCorp has a separate branch whose main goal is to poison the water supply?”

 

“Yes. The Contamination Unit.”

 

“But why?”

 

“That’s what I’m going to find out.”

 

“You’re going to confront Lionel?” Another bad idea.

 

“Not until I’m sure we have the neutralizing chemical perfected. I’m not going in unless I know how I’m getting out.”

 

“But what about Oliver and Dig?”

 

“Luthor has them. I just know it. I trust them to take care of themselves. I want to run a full chemical analysis on what’s in this coolant to make sure raw LP is in there.”

 

“I can help with that!”

 

“I know. Let’s get started.”

 

After a while, a ping indicated that the analysis was done.

 

“Analysis is done,” Felicity told Ryder.

 

“And?”

 

“There’s definitely raw LP in the NuCorp coolant system.”

 

Ryder called STAR Labs to see if they were done with the neutralization chemical.

 

“What is it, Ms. Smoak?” Harry asked. 

 

“This is Anna.”

 

“Ah, Ms. Smoak’s daughter.” Seriously, was there anyone who hadn’t figured it out by this point?

 

“What?”

 

“Don’t worry, no one told me anything.” 

 

“How are you guys coming on the chemical?”

 

“It’s close, but we need more time.”

 

“How much more?”

 

“Aren’t we in a rush?”

 

“I have to be out of this time period by tomorrow evening, so sorry if I’m not giving you much time.”

 

“I’m to assume we’ll be facing new challenges tomorrow evening, then?”

 

“You’re to assume nothing. How soon can you have the chemical done?”

 

“If we work through the night, it’ll be done by morning.”

 

“Thank you, Dr. Wells. Hey, is, uh, Don there?”

 

“No, I haven’t seen him since the last time he was here with you.” Odd. 

 

“Okay. Good luck.”

 

Ryder turned to Felicity. “You might as well go home. There’s nothing else we can do here.”

 

“Are you sure? You don’t want me to stay with you?” Ryder was clearly not in the best place emotionally, and who knows what other help she would need going forward?

 

“I mean, I can’t make you leave, but there’s no reason for you to stay.”

 

“Making sure you’re okay isn’t a good enough reason?”

 

I didn’t think I’d be able to handle it if she did. “No, I’ll be fine. I’ll see you in the morning.” If she was sure.

 

“Alright. Goodnight.”

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------

 

Felicity returned the next morning with more determination than ever to help Ryder in her mission. But Ryder was already suiting up when she got there. “Are you going out?”

 

“Mr. Allen got me the neutralization chemical. That means I’ll be able to undo whatever he’s up to. Can you have the rest of the team go out to the water treatment center that Dad and Dig were at?” She handed Felicity a vial. “Give them this, and tell them that if anything gets dumped in the water, they need to dump this in immediately. And leak everything we have to the press. ”

 

“Got it.” Ryder checked Luthor’s schedule. “Are you sure you’re okay going in alone?”

 

“Always am.” That’s what Felicity was afraid of. 


	23. Chapter 23 (Oliver)

Oliver and Dig had been sitting in silence, alternating sleeping shifts so that one of them was always alert. Oliver’s wrists were slightly uncomfortable, but other than that, he’d had worse nights sleeping. Suddenly, Oliver saw a blinking red light turn on just ahead of him.

 

“Dig, wake up.” Dig immediately grunted and turned toward him. “Any thoughts about the blinking light?”

 

“I think this is our television debut.”

 

“I agree.” Clearly, they were being shown to someone as hostages. Suddenly, Oliver felt pain all over. An electric shock. Once it was over, Oliver turned to face the camera. “Don’t listen to them, Anna, we’re fine! Don’t give them what they want!”

 

Oliver had no idea who or what they were or what they wanted, but he could stand up to this lame attempt at torture any day. Another shock came to Oliver and Dig, but Oliver didn’t mind.  _ Better me than her _ . 

 

“You alright, Dig?”

 

“Yeah, I’m good. You?”

 

“I’m fine. This is clearly all a show.”

 

“Glad we agree.”

 

A few moments later, they were hit by a stronger electric current, this time too strong for either of them to stand. Oliver felt himself blacking out again, hoping he would at least get to see his daughter one last time before…

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Oliver woke up to someone tapping his face. He looked up and saw her.  _ Thank God _ . “Ryder?”

 

“Yeah, Dad, it’s me. I’m here.”

 

“You shouldn’t have come.” By now, it was obvious to him what this whole setup was.

 

“Why not?”

 

“It’s a…” Before Oliver could finish, armed men stormed into the room. Two of them shot each other, and then Ryder killed the lights. The bullets kept flying, and all Oliver could do was make himself as small of a target as possible. At one point, a flare went off, allowing Oliver to get an understanding of where the remaining men were positioned. He felt one walk past him, and he butted his head into the thug’s. Ryder reached out to attack him.

 

“Ryder-it’s me.”

 

“Oh, sorry.” She turned on her flashlight and then untied Oliver and Dig. 

 

“Have you guys seen Don?”

 

“No. Why? Is he captive, too?” Oliver asked.

 

“Yeah. The feed was coming from here, though, from both cameras.”

 

“We’ll help you find him.”

 

“Overwatch? I have Green Arrow and Spartan, but I can’t find Don anywhere. He turned off his GPS so I can’t trace him. I’m sending you the information on a camera feed that Luthor was running from Don’s location. See if you can backtrace it better than I could?” Dig gave Oliver a knowing look. Yes, definitely her mother’s daughter.

 

“How’s the team doing?” Ryder asked. She must’ve liked what she heard, as she breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Over and out.”

 

“Can we search this warehouse again? See if there’s anything I missed?” Oliver got up, flexed his wrists, and nodded.

 

They split up and went to search the warehouse. Dig’s voice came over the comms. “I’ve checked the roof. Nothing up here.”

 

Oliver had the second floor, but confirmed that he had nothing. After hearing an explosion, Oliver was a bit worried, but he knew the sound of an explosive arrow when he heard it. He then heard Ryder radio in that she had found her speedster. They went home. 


	24. Chapter 24 (Felicity)

Felicity didn’t have words for how relieved she was that Oliver and Ryder were back safe. She found herself falling into Oliver’s arms as soon as he came down into the Bunker, not caring that the whole team was there to see it. 

 

“I’m okay.” Oliver whispered into her ear, in the voice he only used for her. Felicity’s heartbeat finally slowed. It was only after Dig cleared his throat that they broke apart. 

 

Ryder addressed the team. “Thank you for everything you’ve done these past few days. I know it hasn’t been easy, but we made a difference. In fact…”

 

She turned to Don. “Gideon?”

 

“Yes, Anna?”

 

“Timeline diagnostic on the Event.”

 

“The Event no longer happens, as the government halts the production of the NuCorp water coolant system.” The team started clapping, and Felicity felt a huge smile on her face.

 

“Thank you guys.” Oliver addressed his team. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” They all headed out, except for Oliver and Felicity.

 

“Anna?” Gideon addressed Ryder. 

 

“Yes?”

 

“Now that the cure has been discovered, don’t you need to take it?”

 

Felicity was shocked.

 

“Ryder, are you sick?” Oliver asked.

 

“Sort of,” she said. She dug through her bag and came out with a small device. She plugged in her tablet and seemed to upload it. “Do you have a syringe?” she asked Felicity.

 

“Um, sure.” She dug around until she produced one. Then Ryder shot herself with the new chemical, and then stuck herself with another device. 

 

“And now I’m fine.” Felicity wasn’t quite sure what just happened, but decided it was a good thing.

 

“So are you heading back to the future now?” Felicity asked. 

 

Ryder turned to Don. “Yeah, it seems that way. Our work here is done.”

 

Felicity went up to Ryder and hugged her. “I’m going to miss you.”

 

“You’ll see me again soon. We’re teammates, after all.”  _ And so much more than that _ . 

 

She whispered in Ryder’s ear, “Be safe, okay?” Ryder nodded. 

 

Oliver found himself tearing up. Part of his family was uniting, and he clearly didn’t want to see it end. Neither did Felicity. “I don’t want you to go.”

 

“We both know I can’t stay. I have a brave new world to go face. And you’re going to be in it. I’m bringing you both back, like I promised.” Felicity didn’t understand that. 

 

“Tell Tommy I say hi,” Oliver said. 

 

I smiled. “You can tell him yourself.” 

 

“I love you, sweetheart.” 

 

“I love you, too, Dad.” She pulled back and turned to Don. “You ready?”

 

He nodded. They grabbed their bags, and were off in a flash.

 

Felicity turned toward Oliver just as she was turning toward him. She felt like she didn’t know what to say, that everything she wanted to say was just too….big, and huge, and life-changing. But before she could start what was probably going to be one of her most epic babbles yet, Oliver jumped in.

 

“She’s yours.” Felicity felt her eyebrows go  _ way _ up. Oliver knew?!?

 

“You know?”

 

“Wait-you know?” They just stared at each other, and then burst into laughter. 

 

“How do you know?” Oliver asked.

 

“I found a photo. How do you know?”

 

“Dig told me.”

 

“Dig knows?!?”

 

“Apparently he’s always known?” Felicity gave him a questioning look, and he shrugged. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

 

Felicity took a step toward Oliver, trying to keep her cool. “What do you want to talk about?”

 

Oliver took another step toward her. “Us.”

 

Felicity licked her lips. “Right. Us.”

 

“I was thinking tonight’s dinner might be the perfect opportunity, and-”

 

Felicity hit herself in the forehead. “Right. Tonight. It’s not a dinner. It’s your surprise party.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“The whole team’s going to be there, and I thought a dinner might be a good ruse-”

 

“Right. That’s fine. We’ll talk after that, then.”

 

“No.” 

 

“No?”

 

“No, as in I don’t want to keep pushing this off, and saying we’ll have time to talk about it later, because there’s never time. The world’s always in danger, or someone’s always hurt, or there’s always going to be a better time later, but there’s not. There’s only here and now and I want to talk about our family.” Felicity took a deep breath and saw Oliver with a huge smile on his face. “What?”

 

“Our family.”

 

“Yeah. Us, and William, and Ryder, and a little boy. Our family.” Felicity thought she could see Oliver’s heart melting right before her eyes. This was her favorite person in the whole world, right here. Not the masked vigilante, or the superhero, or the mayor, but this Oliver, the one who didn’t understand what he so rightfully deserved, that never expected that good things should come to him. This was the man she loved. 

 

“We have a pretty amazing family.”

 

“Yeah, we do. Except…”

 

“What?”

 

“How can we allow our daughter to risk life and limb as a time-travelling vigilante?”

 

“I was thinking the same thing.” Good to know she and Oliver were on the same page. “It’s one thing for her to date the Flash’s son-”

 

“Wait-Don is Barry’s son?”

 

Oliver nodded. “Oh, yeah, that one was obvious from the start.”

 

“Okay, I thought so, but there was a lot going on, and I didn’t get a chance to test his DNA, too-”

 

“Are you just going to test everyone’s DNA from now on?”

 

“Basically. I have some serious, but understandable, trust issues with people’s identities.”

 

“Fair point.” Oliver looked at her, concerned. “What are we going to do? About our vigilante daughter?”

 

“Easy. We just don’t let her be a vigilante when she grows up. We make a vow, right here and now, that it’s never going to happen.”

 

“Won’t that cause some kind of paradox?” Felicity was surprised Oliver had thought of that, but was glad he was at least trying to keep up with time-travel scenarios.

 

“Not really. It’ll just create an alternate timeline. Ryder will be fine. And, more importantly, she’ll be safe.”

 

“That’s all I want.”

 

“Me, too.”

 

Felicity stared into Oliver’s eyes, and she saw her own feelings reflected in them: worry about their daughter, hope for their future, fear of the unknown. 

 

“So what do you suggest we do now?” Oliver asked.

 

“We, as in you and me?”

 

“Yes, we.” Oliver smiled at her patiently.

 

“Well, I guess I go get your surprise party ready, you go and act surprised, and after that, we take things one step at a time.”

 

“I like that.”

 

“Me, too.”

 

Oliver held out his hand to Felicity, and she took it. She forgot how amazing it felt to just be able to hold this man’s hand. He leaned over and pressed a kiss on her head, and she felt all of her worry melt away. She could handle doing this for the rest of her life, no problem. After all, if she was with Oliver, what couldn’t she face?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it for this one! Starting tomorrow, I'm doing a quick five-chapter companion, and then we're back to the future with Ryder!


End file.
